"I was just stood there
listening to the band with
my friends and then all of a
sudden I felt this hand and I
thought it was just one of
my friends messing around
but instead it was this guy.
It wasn't even an accidental
touch it was a full on
grope;' LilyViberg is talking
about
an experience at a Foals
gigÂhowever, what is
interesting is that despite
recalling a clearly
distressing time in her life,
she seems unmoved when
thinking back to it. Maybe if
this was the first time it
had happened then she
would be more upset, but
these days incidents like
this are common practice
for female gig-goers.
"I experience incidents of
sexual harassment on a
daily basis so it's nothing
new for me, but I'd like to
think that when someone
has paid for a ticket to see a
band they like then they
would be more interested
in seeing the band than
grabbing some girl's arse."
Let's be honest though: you
could replace the name of
the
victim and the name of the
band with anyone else and
it would still be an accurate
account. Everyone knows
that it is happening, but is
anyone actually doing
anything about it? Enter Girls
Against.
Girls Against Gig Groping
was only formed in October
2015, after Hannah Camilleri,
one of the founding
members of the organization,
experienced an incident of
sexual harassment at a Peace
gig in Glasgow.
In less than a year numerous
bands have pledged their
support to the cause.
"Spector, Slaves, Spring King,
The 1975, Swim Deep, Circa
Waves, Peace - the list goes
on and it's a bit insane"
Hannah told me. "They do a
lot of things to help which is
really cool and really helps in
terms of the raising
awareness side of things."
As well as raising awareness
that sexual harassment is
constantly happening at
gigs, Girls Against acts as a
platform for victims to come
forward and get support:
GIRLS
AGAINST GIG
GROPING