Dwell Music Change Weblog
Our newest publish is by Rosemary Lucy Hill, Senior Lecturer in Media and Standard Tradition, College of Huddersfield. Right here she outlines analysis into sexual violence and harassment at gigs, and introduces the information that emerged from it about easy methods to write a ‘safer areas’ coverage.
TL;DR: safer areas insurance policies are actually helpful; right here’s our Information on easy methods to write one.
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Proper now music venues are preventing for his or her lives. Slivers of hope in placing on gigs once more are tied in with excited about how to take action safely.
While we think about viewers security from covid, different types of security have to be remembered. Violence and sexual harassment have been a pernicious a part of the gig expertise, particularly for girls, for a few years. Going to a gig could be a distinctly unsafe expertise, resulting in long-term trauma, lack of neighborhood and lack of a musical life. For musicians it may well imply a reconsideration of profession selections.
This second, then, presents a chance to replicate on how we’d enhance security when it comes to lowering sexual violence and harassment, and selling equality in gig going.
My staff and I’ve been researching the impacts of sexual violence at gigs, and what we are able to do to mitigate them. We found that some venues are excellent at coping with violence, however others felt at sea when an incident occurred. They didn’t know easy methods to reply for the most effective.
Safer areas insurance policies could be useful for workers in coping with sexual harassment and violence, particularly if workers have additionally acquired good coaching. Insurance policies can present consistency so everybody within the venue is on the identical web page. They’re good for audiences and musicians too, as they supply extra details about easy methods to behave or easy methods to get help if one thing goes incorrect.
However for all that, we discovered plenty of selection amongst present insurance policies: some lengthy, some brief, some complicated, some as distilled as ‘Don’t be a dick’ (as if everybody is aware of what ‘being a dick’ is). This implies it’s fairly patchy when it comes to how helpful insurance policies are, or how straightforward they’re to learn and perceive.
We additionally discovered that individuals who run venues are actually pushed for time. They won’t really feel assured about writing a safer areas coverage. One of many venue managers we spoke to stated,
“I’m not the knowledgeable on rights and insurance policies, it’s not my factor. I’m actually good at working issues easily and effectively, however writing isn’t [one of my strengths].”
We wished to assist resolve this downside with a simple information to writing a coverage and a template to go together with it. So we created the 5 Step Information to Writing a Safer Areas Coverage for Your Venue. We drew on our analysis and consulted with venue managers, promoters and anti-violence charities to be sure that the information is sensible and a optimistic expertise for customers.
Our Information units out 5 steps to guide venue managers and their groups by a dialogue of what to place of their coverage and easy methods to write it. That is concerning the beliefs of the workers and how much venue they’re working or wish to create. It asks about sensible measures already in place and what extra may very well be performed (and what help could be wanted to attain it).
Our analysis discovered that plenty of safer areas insurance policies use fairly unfavorable language: they’re about what folks shouldn’t be doing in a venue, not what they need to be doing (having enjoyable!). We suggest that insurance policies are framed in optimistic language. This encourages folks to share within the values of the venue and to take constructive motion.
Our pattern coverage is explicitly framed on this optimistic language and units out clearly what viewers members can do to take pleasure in themselves safely and with out impinging on others’ enjoyable. For instance,
“Say ‘excuse me’ when transferring by the gang, quite than pushing or touching folks. A few faucets on the shoulder could also be okay in the event that they haven’t heard you”
It is usually clear about what the venue offers and the way workers will reply if an incident of violence does happen. Sadly, incidents do occur even in venues with insurance policies – however realizing how finest to take care of it may well scale back the trauma for these on the receiving finish.
The Information consists of hyperlinks to additional assets, similar to anti-violence coaching organisation Good Evening Out Marketing campaign, and free entry to journal articles about our analysis.
We hope that the 5 Step Information to Writing a Safer Areas Coverage will show a useful device for venues and promoters as they foster security at gigs. It’s our philosophy that the gig expertise ought to be enjoyable for everybody. Clear steerage for audiences and help from venues can promote that. We consider this as a ‘framework for enjoyable’ wherein everybody’s freedom to have enjoyable is being supported, so long as it doesn’t impede another person’s enjoyment.
Please share the Information with venues and promoters that you simply assume will discover it helpful. And in case you use it and prefer it, please tell us! Twitter@musichealthy or [email protected]
References
Hill, R. L., Hesmondhalgh, D., & Megson, M. (2020). Sexual violence at reside music occasions: experiences, responses and prevention. Worldwide Journal of Cultural Research, 23(3), 368–384.
Hill, R. L., & Megson, M. (2020). In defence of safer areas: punk, privilege and safer areas insurance policies. Punk & Put up-Punk, 9(1), 59–76.
Rosemary Lucy Hill, Senior Lecturer in Media and Standard Tradition, College of Huddersfield, UK; Twitter@rosemarylhill
