Sexual assault at Reading and Leeds Festivals

[Pleasehelpme2000]

Please help.
Following a sexual assault at Reading Festival last year, I have been trying to get answers out of Festival Republic and Reading Council. They stalled me for many months - in the end to see their data on sexual assaults I had to make Freedom of Information requests to Thames Valley Police and West Yorkshire Police.
It turns out that there are 4 rapes reported every year at Leeds Festival (3 in 2023). There is also a 'penetration of women aged 13 and above' most years, plus sexual assaults (7 last year). In Reading Festival there were 22 sexual assaults last year - they are making me do more FOI requests if I want to understand the details. I think there are intersectional issues, and if I want that information, I am also being asked to do more FOIs.
At Leeds and Reading Festival since 2018 there have been zero convictions for any sexual assaults. In Leeds there have not even been any prosecutions! At Reading there is one prosecution per year.
I have met with Festival Republic and the Reading 'Public Protection' officer, I have made formal complaints to both police forces and to both councils. Leeds Council said I could watch the Licensing committee meeting, after which I emailed everyone of the councillors with my concern. No one has got back to me. Reading Council have passed my complaint about the Festival and the Public Protection Officer - to the Public Protection Officer! - and said he will get back to me after the festival. The Thames Valley Police Chief Inspector replied to say she will investigate and get back to me after the festival.
The CCTV quality they use is no good - Festival Republic have admitted it is for crowd flow, not identification. I have consulted an industry expert. The quality is not good enough to identify assailants. Festival Republic say they won't improve it unless the Police demand it.

Please help me bring attention to these appalling sexual assault statistics and please ask the Festival, the councils and police forces to improve the CCTV quality.
With 4 out of 5 women not reporting sexual assault, these figures are likely to be FAR HIGHER.
If 4 men had been raped every year at Leeds Festival, wouldn't the council have created a Men and Boys Taskforce years ago for their SAG and Licensing Teams? These figures have been stable since 2019, and no such team exists - that's how normalised they are trying to make us to violence against women and girls.
Please Help.
God forbid anyone gets sexually assaulted at these festivals this year, but the likelihood is that many will. Please help people get access to justice when it happens.

Full FOI reports here:

LEEDS FESTIVAL 2019
RAPE OF WOMAN 16 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER - 4
HARASSMENT PUT IN FEAR OF VIOLENCE - 1
HARASSMENT WITHOUT VIOLENCE - 1
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON A FEMALE - 3

2021
ASSAULT A WOMAN 13 OR OVER BY PENETRATION WITH PART OF BODY/A THING - 1
RAPE A WOMAN 16 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER - 4
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON A FEMALE - 2
ADMINISTER SUBSTANCE WITH INTENT TO STUPEFY/OVERPOWER TO ALLOW SEXUAL ACTIVITY - 1

2022
ASSAULT A WOMAN 13 OR OVER BY PENETRATION WITH PART OF BODY/A THING - 2
RAPE A WOMAN 16 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER - 4
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON A FEMALE - 9
ADMINISTER SUBSTANCE WITH INTENT TO STUPEFY/OVERPOWER TO ALLOW SEXUAL ACTIVITY - 1

2023
ASSAULT A WOMAN 13 OR OVER BY PENETRATION WITH PART OF BODY/A THING - 1
RAPE A WOMAN 16 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER - 3
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON A FEMALE - 6
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON A MALE - 1
ADMINISTER SUBSTANCE WITH INTENT TO STUPEFY/OVERPOWER TO ALLOW SEXUAL ACTIVITY - 1

LEEDS FESTIVAL 2019-2023
NUMBER OF PROSECUTIONS - 0
NUMBER OF CONVICTIONS - 0

READING FESTIVAL 2023
SEXUAL ASSAULTS REPORTED TO THE POLICE 22

READING FESTIVAL 2022
SEXUAL ASSAULTS REPORTED TO THE POLICE 18

READING FESTIVAL 2021
SEXUAL ASSAULTS REPORTED TO THE POLICE 12

READING FESTIVAL 2021-2023
NUMBER OF PROSECUTIONS - 1 PER YEAR
NUMBER OF CONVICTIONS - 0

I do think it’s the venue’s responsibility to make sure proper safeguards are put into place. They aren’t responsible for the actions of the perpetrators but they are responsible for making sure that they are able to help identify perpetrators, have a smooth liason procedure with the police so that anyone accused of sexual assault or any violence is removed rapidly. Everyone is using drones these days, as soon as someone is reported get a drone overhead and find the fucker.

My dc loved their experience at Leeds fest.

Well done for bringing this to light OP.Its disgusting that it is being ignored like this.We all want safe spaces for women and girls .I had no idea it was so widespread .I think its going under the Radar on purpose to protect ticket sales

Great! Not my experience, but itnwas over 10 years a go since I went.

I also went many times when younger, as well as to places like Glastonbury, and was very well aware I needed to stick with my friends and we needed to look after each other because there were loads of predatory older men trying to fuck young drunk girls.

These figures don’t surprise me at all, and I’m only surprised OP is surprised.

What ? So all this sexual assaults don't worry you then. Are you a man by any chance

Women and girls are an easy target for sexual predators at festival. Having a nice time with their guards dropped and falling prey easily because they may have had a drink or whatever. It's a very worrying situation and getting worse. I have 3 daughters and it's terrifying to think how vulnerable they could be in certain situations.

Thank you for doing this @Pleasehelpme2000. I agree it's awful and the organisers could do a lot more to keep women - and everyone else - safe.

@FixTheBone the rape statistics you quote are over the course of a year. This festival happens over a weekend/week/few days. In other words, on reported rapes alone, they get over a year's worth of rapes over the course* of the event.* It isn't good.

Thank you @BettyBooper what is that and how do I do it? I am a tech duffer

I’d imagine the unreported figure is massive, girls pretending it didn’t happen, not wanting to admit it was rape as they’d been too drunk or drugged. Not wanting to inform the police due to drink and drugs and parents finding out.

what I will say about reading and Leeds is it attracts a very young crowd, it’s considered safe and like it’s your first festival before you start doing the bigger ones. It’s timed at the end of exam results, one last hoorah with school friends before uni / college, which means it really is “my first festival”. This adds to the issue, more drink, more drugs in those not used to the freedom. It will attract anyone predatory, it also means there’s some poor decisions made leading to people being more vulnerable to these attacks

I corrected for that.

Thanks for such a considered reply and that you took my original comment in the way it was inteded - to promote further discussion.....

Obviously any amount of sexual assualts is awful.

The thing I couldn't work out is whether youd expect the rate to be higher at a festival due to alcohol, numbers of vulnerable people, opportunity etc, or whether it should be lower due to a higher concentration of people and security compared to normal life, or, as I suspect bith things cancel each other out and the rate is the same.

I certainly think in a 'contained' venue it should be possible to have more control or better methods or preventing assaults from happening.

No, they are not allowed in.

There IS police, there IS security, there IS welfare. There is also a tenth of a million people. The festivals do what they can, the police do what they can. A certain proportion of people are criminal.

Went every year from 1998-2014 and sporadically since then. Never had any issues like you describe. Always been an amazing festival

@mytuppennyworth why do you say that 13 year olds are not allowed?
All ages are allowed into Reading and Leeds Festivals. Under 13s go free.
Any age checks on the door are organised by Festival Republic. I am suggesting their figures and checks should be verified independently.

I think this is an important issue and one that needs highlighting. The festival ethos is based on heroism to a great extent - a space where the rules don't apply. This means festivals will be an arena where men feel entitled to assult....drink and drugs done help either.

I wonder how many women are putting their assault experience down to a bad festival experience quite like having too much to drink? There might be a reluctance by many to report as they unfortunately feel it is just a 'festival thing' like a hangover or a dodgy pill?

Also I think the youth media avoid this topic as they don't want festivals to be tarred with discussion about serious sexual crime but praised for the music and 'festival vibe'.

Hi @FixTheBone I guess I am trying to explore our expectations.
How is this 'expectation' of sexual assault being normalised?
To quote from 'It's like a drive by misogyny: sexual violence at UK music festivals'
"Rape Culture - For participants in our study, there was a shared expectation of sexual violence at music festivals. This was informed by their broader understandings and experiences of gender-based violence which were framed by the broader heteronormative, patriarchal culture in which sexual aggression is routine and common place. In the patriarchal culture, men's violence against women is viewed as customary and normal, and thus so is women's endurance of it (Stanko, 1985)."
It seems that music festivals like Reading and Leeds are part of building the foundations for these expectations.
I am asking for different expectations, for spaces where women and girls aren't hurt at all.