"At a recent Warped Tour stop, a woman stood in the crowd holding a sign that read, 'Teen girls deserve respect, not gross jokes from disgusting old men! Punk shouldn't be predatory!'
On stage, frontman Leonard Graves Phillips of punk outfit the Dickies, unleashed a misogynistic, profanity-packed, sexually violent tirade at the woman — calling on the crowd to join in on the harassment.
Reports of harassment and sexual assault at music festivals have been steadily increasing and are often overlooked because of the 'temporary utopia' music festivals are thought to provide.
...'I do feel there's a fear that if festivals address sexual violence as something that's occurring, it's bad PR,' says Rape Victim Advocates' Northside prevention educator, Kat Stuehrk. 'But if you can have an alcohol policy or a strict policy around what you can bring in a bag, you can have a concentrated effort toward safety and I think fans want that.'
RVA partnered with nonprofit, domestic violence agency Between Friends to develop the OurMusicMyBody campaign — aiming to promote 'fun and consensual music experiences for all.'"
Read the full article here.
