Twenty-two percent of attendees have experienced sexual harassment or assault at UK festivals, according to a new YouGov survey commissioned by the UK’s Press Association, as The Guardian and the BBC report. 30 percent of women (and 43 percent of women under age 40) said that they have faced “unwanted sexual behavior” at festivals; respondents said the most common behaviors were “unwelcome and forceful dancing and sexualised verbal harassment,” according to the Press Association. The survey’s sample size included 1,188 people who had attended a music festival.
Just two percent of people who experienced assault or harassment reported it to the police, according to the survey. One percent of women reported their experiences of unwanted sexual behavior to festival staff members; in contrast, 19 percent of men reported incidents to festival staff. 11 percent of women said they suffered sexual assault at a festival while conscious, and 4 percent said it occurred while unconscious or asleep. Of those who experienced sexual assault or harassment, 70 percent said the perpetrator was a stranger.
