Bad behaviour at Homegrown alleged
Multiple sexual misconduct allegations have followed in the wake of the Homegrown music festival.
Organisers were aware of up to five people claiming they were abused at the event, but a prevention network spokeswoman said there could be more who had not come forward.
The event in Wellington on April 6 attracted about 20,000 people. It allows under-18s to attend, but they must register on a special database first.
Organiser Andrew Tuck said Homegrown staff were speaking with police about the incidents.
He had been told there were up to five reports of sexual misconduct.
‘‘We don’t have a full picture of what’s happened.’’
Event organisers were speaking to those involved, the police and other parties, he said.
‘‘We’ve gone to them to ask for as much information as possible to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future.’’
Wellington Sexual Abuse Help chief executive Conor Twyford said his organisation would not comment on the number of incidents reported to it after Homegrown. ‘‘We can confirm that we’ve had a very busy weekend.’’
The #MeToo campaign meant people felt a lot more free to talk about their experiences with sexual abuse, Twyford said.
Sexual Abuse Prevention Network general manager Fiona McNamara said it had been in touch with the event organisers this week.
‘‘I think it’s concerning that there’s been a number of complaints,’’ she said. ‘‘Certainly if there are multiple complaints from the same event, that absolutely has to be addressed.’’
However, there could have been more unreported incidents, she said.
Next year, the event organisers could take advantage of the Sexual Abuse Prevention Network’s training programmes and support, she said.