The UN Launch New Project for Women’s Safety in Music

A raft of figures and brands across the music industry have signed an open letter calling for the music and live entertainment sectors to do more to tackle harassment and create safer spaces for women and marginalised groups.

The new initiative is called ‘Safe Spaces Now’, with UN Women UK leading the charge alongside Cambridge-based Strawberries & Creem Festival. The two have joined forces off the back of disturbing statistics revealing 43% of female festivalgoers under the age of 40 had experienced unwanted sexual behaviour.

Artists, music brands and industry leaders have co-signed an open letter recognising the ongoing issues and the need for change in the music industry. The names who have signed the letter include Anne-Marie, Clara Amfo, Mabel, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, MNEK, Rudimental, the Eden Project, ticket retailer Dice, Emily Eavis the co-organiser of Glastonbury Festival, and previously mentioned Strawberries & Creem Festival.

The Strawberries & Creem Festival will be the first pilot event, promising to focus on developing and implementing a safety-first strategy at this year’s edition of their festival. In addition, they are the only UK festival that has pledged a commitment to a 50-50 gender split of performers on their event line-up.

The co-founder of Strawberries & Creem Festival, Chris Jammer said:

“We want welcoming, inclusive, and safe spaces for people to enjoy music together. We hope that, together, we can set a blueprint for what safe spaces should look like for festivals moving forward – for all of our audience, as well as our artists and staff.”

The Safe Spaces Now initiative has called on companies, events, and venues to commit to reviewing and improving safety measures in their spaces to ensure safer environments for women and marginalised groups.

The Executive Director of UN Women UK Claire Barnett went on to say:

“Live music is one of those spaces where people expect to be free. It is escapism, it’s your place of joy, and if that is somewhere we are hearing people are afraid then we need to take action.”

“It is not OK for women to be constantly worried about their safety at festivals, to make sure they always have phone chargers on them so they can call someone if they feel unsafe.”

“We have a unique opportunity as we return from lockdown to reconsider the way we construct and use our public spaces to be safer for the long term.”