Festival-goers told to step in to halt rising harassment

FESTIVAL-GOERS have been told to step in if they spot sexual harassment, after it was disclosed that almost half of young women have been attacked at events.

One in five festival-goers has experienced sexual assault or harassment at an event, according to research, with 43 per cent of women under the age of 40 experiencing unwanted attention.

The figures, believed to be the first of their kind, should be a wake-up call, campaigners said. The Yougov poll of 1,888 festival-goers showed 22 per cent faced unwanted sexual behaviour, rising to almost one in three of all women.

However, only two per cent reported the incident to the police.

Jen Calleja, a co-director of the Good Night Out Campaign, called the research “shocking but not surprising”.

“Harassment is everybody’s problem, it’s not just the person who is being assaulted,” added Ms Calleja.

Paul Reed, of the Association of Independent Festivals, called on festivalgoers to report problems. “If people don’t intervene, then this behaviour becomes normalised,” he said.