'One in five festival goers has experienced sexual assault or harassment,' research shows

Campaigners said the figures, believed to be the first of their kind, should be a wake-up call for the industry to start treating sexual violence as seriously as other crimes at festivals.

The poll showed 22% of all Britons who have been to a festival faced some kind of unwanted sexual behaviour, rising to almost one in three of women (30%) and almost half (43%) of women under 40.

The most common forms of unwanted sexual behaviour experienced by respondents were unwelcome and forceful dancing and sexualised verbal harassment.

Eleven per cent of women had experienced sexual assault while they were conscious, compared to three per cent of men, and four per cent of women said they were sexually assaulted while unconscious or asleep, compared to two per cent of men.

Only two per cent of festival goers who were assaulted or harassed reported the incident to the police, according to the figures, suggesting the issue is significantly under-reported.

Separate data released in the Crime Survey for England and Wales in February showed more than 80% of victims of sexual assault did not report it to police.

The poll, in which YouGov surveyed 1,188 festival goers for the Press Association, also revealed:

• Seventy per cent of those who experienced sexual assault or harassment at a festival said the perpetrator was a stranger.
• Only 1% of women reported sexual assault or harassment to a member of festival staff, either before or after the event, although 19% of men reported their experience to staff.
• When people were asked how satisfied they were with how festivals they attended handled the issue, 45% said they did not know and 24% said they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, suggesting a lack of awareness around festival policies and safeguards. A total of 22% said they were satisfied and 8% said they were dissatisfied.

Tracey Wise, founder of campaign group Safe Gigs For Women, said: "We have struggled to find anyone with any definite statistics on this before now.

"It gives us something to show to festival organisers so we can say 'you need to take this on board'."

Jen Calleja, a co-director of the Good Night Out Campaign, called the research "shocking but not surprising", saying it "helps prove what we already know through anecdotal evidence".

"We know that the vast amount of harassment and sexual assault is not reported and we know this comes down to stigma, fear of not being believed and a minimisation of what harassment is," she said.

Beth Granter, a 35-year-old campaign manager with social network Care2, said she was flashed by a man at Reading Festival when she was 17.

"He said something like 'give us a shag'," so she said she told him to go away and tried to laugh it off, she said.

"Laughing was a defensive strategy to de-escalate the situation," she added.

She said she did not report what happened but felt vulnerable for the rest of the festival.

"I think this kind of thing happens more at festivals than in the street during the day, but I haven't seen any evidence that it happens more at festivals than in nightclubs. I have lost count of the times I've been sexually assaulted in a nightclub," Ms Granter added.

February's Crime Survey statistics found one in five women had experienced some form of sexual assault since they turned 16.

Paul Reed, chief executive of the Association of Independent Festivals, said festivals "have a duty to make their events as safe and secure and enjoyable" as possible, but that some responsibility also lies with festival goers to report problems.

"People shouldn't feel that they need to tolerate the type of behaviour [at festivals] that they wouldn't tolerate in the street," he said, adding that raising awareness around the importance of consent and bystander intervention was paramount.

"If people don't intervene, then this behaviour becomes normalised," he said.

"The idea we want to put forward is that harassment is everybody's problem, it's not just the person who is being assaulted," added Ms Calleja.

Hundreds of thousands of people flock to UK festivals every year but organisers of some of the UK's biggest festivals - including Glastonbury, Creamfields and the Reading and Leeds festivals - declined to comment on the new figures.

Avon and Somerset Police recorded two incidents of sexual assault, two incidents of rape and one incident of indecent exposure at last year's Glastonbury Festival and some social media users reported instances of sexual assault at Manchester's Parklife festival this year, on June 9 and 10. Parklife also declined to comment.

Ms Wise said: "[The figures] will be massively helpful, because at the moment I don't think festival organisers do enough.

"It would be good to get to the end of festival season and see festivals have taken this on."

All figures in this report, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 3,436 adults, of which 1,188 had attended a music festival.

The survey was carried out online between June 4 and 6 2018. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults.

* Anyone affected by sexual assault or harassment, at any time, can speak to someone available through organisations like The Survivor's Trust, Rape Crisis or Survivors UK.

What the festivals said: 

The Press Association contacted 21 of the UK's biggest festivals to discuss the new research on sexual assault and harassment at UK music festivals and ask about provisions and policy at their events.

The organisers of Glastonbury Festival, Creamfields, Download Festival, Reading and Leeds Festival, Latitude Festival, Parklife, End of the Road Festival, RiZE Festival (previously V Festival), Wireless Festival, Wilderness Festival, Sundown Festival, Womad, Beautiful Days Festival, We Are FSTVL, Festival No 6, and Love Supreme Festival all declined to comment.

Five festival organisers commented on the issue of sexual assault and harassment or described what measures they take to address the issue.

Sundown Festival

"We take the welfare of all our customers very seriously and our number one priority is to ensure all Sundown festival goers can enjoy the event in a safe, friendly and fun environment. All our policies are under review for our festival in September as we seek to constantly improve our customer experience."

Bestival

"We work closely with Dorset Police to ensure Bestival is a safe environment. Security and stewarding teams are briefed to be vigilant for lone / vulnerable people and to offer assistance in escorting them to be reunited with friends or to our welfare facilities if necessary. Our CCTV teams are similarly briefed. We have a Harm Reduction protocol with Dorset Police and other agencies that is designed to address issues such as this."

Green Man Festival

"The well-being and safety of everyone at all our events is paramount. Sexual harassment is illegal and we seriously investigate any reports, and report this to the police. Everyone is treated to the same proactive level of response.

"We always use qualified and experienced security which include a mix of women, men, younger and older people, who are vigilant in monitoring festival attendees.

"Stewards are positioned throughout the festival and are trained to report any harassment, or violence, to security to be investigated. Crew and service staff are also trained or advised on ways to report minor harassment, or violent behaviour or violence.

"Security are positioned in all areas of the festival and are primarily there to monitor and manage crowd safety, crowd behaviour and crowd movement which includes physical violence or harassment.

"They are trained to have a proactive approach to all forms of harassment, such as inappropriate language, bullying or issues with personal boundaries which could be causing discomfort or upset. They are briefed to respond to offenders who may not realise they are guilty of minor harassment by speaking to them directly. In the eyes of the law, this behaviour is not deemed illegal, but if they do not desist they are expelled from the festival.

"All people involved in the public-facing roles at Green Man are briefed on the importance of being polite, friendly and approachable. By creating a proactive and supportive environment - run by approachable and professional security and event organisers - attendees have steward and/or security in view at all times, and an awareness that any report or complaint would be taken seriously and investigated, whilst any medical issues are managed by fully qualified medical professionals."

Boardmasters Festival

"Sexual assault and harassment of any kind is entirely unacceptable and treated as criminal activity at Boardmasters festival. Boardmasters is a signatory of the AIF's 'Safer Spaces Charter of Best Practice'.

"We encourage our Boardmasters festival-goers to look after each other, familiarise themselves with the site, campsite and the locations of first aid and welfare tents. Ahead of the festival and during the event, we will be communicating with our audience to help them stay safe and have a great time on site - including promoting Safer Spaces messaging, as well as the steps to take and support in place for anyone affected by sexual assault or harassment during this year's Boardmasters.

"Across the entire Boardmasters site, there are staff at first aid and welfare tents, specially trained to deal with emergencies including sexual assault and harassment. Welfare tents will be open 24/7. There will also be Festival Angels in the main arena and campsite, available for help, support and advice. They will be clearly identifiable in red branded t-shirts.

"Festival-goers are strongly advised to report suspicious behaviour to any member of festival staff. They are there to help at all times. Additionally, there will be a dedicated phone number and email address for reporting sexual assault and harassment during and after the festival.

"The safety of our festival-goers is paramount and, as such, Boardmasters festival organisers work tirelessly with local police and the security services to ensure the best possible help is on hand for our attendees, and that we have comprehensive measures and practices in place for emergencies of any nature. Our undercover security are deployed across the festival site focusing on crime prevention. Police are also on site throughout the festival.

"This year, Boardmasters has teamed up with Young People Cornwall who will be running free workshops on sexuality, consent and sexual health in our dedicated well-being space. Brook sexual health and well-being charity will also have a presence on site."

Boomtown Fair

"For the past few years we have been engaging with Safe Gigs for Women and other similar organisations to make Boomtown an event where victims feel they can report such offences.

"Our strategy also includes strong messaging to those likely to commit these offences and the friends they are often in company with who can help make sure these offences do not happen.

"The festival's strategy is focused on three key areas:

- Awareness (highlighting the issue and educating our staff and audience on what behaviour is not appropriate and on the consequences of such behaviour),

- Prevention (identifying ways the festival can reduce the chances of an offence taking place)

- Response (ensuring we have detailed procedures in place for dealing with disclosures and that all staff are aware of and follow these procedures).

"Boomtown have attended a number of training sessions focused on addressing the issue of sexual assault at festivals, including a training day run by PARCS (Portsmouth Abuse and Rape Counselling Service) and a session run by Rape Crisis South London.

"We consult regularly with professional organisations and experts, including Safe Gigs for Women, PARCS, Chill Welfare (the festival's welfare provider) and Rape Crisis South London (amongst others) to review the policies, procedures and on-site services the Festival has in place and take advice on how these could be improved."