Published
Fri, May 5, 2017, 11:05
- 25 festivals will shut down their sites on Monday to raise awareness about sexual assault.
25 UK festivals will turn off their websites for 24 hours on Monday, May 8th, in support of a campaign to combat sexual violence.
Field Day, Bestival, Parklife and Secret Garden Party are among the festivals taking part in the Safer Spaces campaign, which has been set up by The Association Of Independent Festivals (AIF), an organisation cofounded by Rob Da Bank, who also runs Bestival. The sites will be offline from 9 AM on Monday.
"It's raising awareness and letting audiences know that if something were to happen, they can report it on site," AIF campaign manager Renae Brown told the BBC. "This is something we should be talking about at festivals. We want people to look out for each other."
In a related drive, more than 60 AIF members will commit to a best practice charter, whose initiatives include staff and volunteer training on issues of sexual assault and welfare provision for sexual assault victims. The campaign has been undertaken with the guidance of Rape Crisis England & Wales, Girls Against, Safe Gigs For Women and the White Ribbon Campaign.