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Addressing the culture of sexual abuse at concerts
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A recent talk discusses the sexual abuse of women at music concerts. (Magdalene.co/-)
C
oncerts are supposed to be fun, but this is not always the case for women in Indonesia, where the issue of sexual abuse often gets swept under the rug.
From the audience to the crew, and even to the musicians, everyone is prone to facing sexual abuse during concerts. In response to this issue, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) teamed up with women’s online publication Magdalene.co to hold their last Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Talk this year, titled “Safe Place for Women and Girls at Music Concerts”.
Held at Plaza Indonesia on Dec. 9, the talk featured musicians Arian “Arian13” Wadiman and Rara Sekar alongside music promoter Xandega Tahajuansya and UNDP gender specialist Yenni Widjaja.
Speaking on the reality of women’s safety at concerts, Rara explained that sexual abuse toward women did not only happen within the crowd.
“What I picked up from fellow musicians’ stories is that sexual abuse happens backstage as well,” Rara said.
Looking at the extent of sexual abuse cases against women in concerts, it would appear that what Rara was referring to is not an isolated case.
Repeated cases of assault in these settings may present a bigger problem: the culture or normalization of sexual abuse against women at music concerts.
