Author’s note: This article discusses sexual assault.
For young teenaged girls who start attending concerts and music festivals, older men can pose huge issues. These men take advantage the large crowds and close spaces and use it as an excuse to get inappropriately close to the unsuspecting girls. Fortunately, a group of young girls from the UK are fighting back against the epidemic of sexual assault at shows with their campaign called “Girls Against.” Despite the name of the campaign, the group has made it clear that their goal is to fight for the rights of all people, male, non-binary, and trans people included.
Hannah Camilleri, 17, formed the campaign after she was groped at a gig by the band Peace in Glasgow. Camilleri found solace in speaking to anonymous users on the internet about her experience, and she along with four of her friends decided to start up the Girls Against blog to give other survivors an outlet for their stories and to offer support.
Despite only having been active for about two months, the campaign has gained momentum quickly, gaining over 7,000 Twitter followers and receiving support from high profile English artists such as Peace, Slaves, and Wolf Alice.
The group has big plans for the future, including raising awareness of the organization and reaching out to music festivals and clubs for support. One of their biggest goals however, is to continue reaching out to artists to receive support. “Bands cannot physically help someone out if they are being groped at a gig, that’s security’s job,” says one of the co-founders of the organization, Anna. “They can take the initiative to talk about groping and let perpetrators know it will not go unnoticed, which is what many bands have done so far and we are so grateful for.”
Cover image courtesy of Shutterstock.
comments