UK: Skiddle, the UK’s biggest event guide & ticketing outlet, has announced that it will be partnering with Safe Gigs For Women, working together to combat sexual harassment and assault at live music events.
The partnership – announced on International Women’s Day – will see Skiddle championing and supporting Safe Gigs For Women, aiming to reduce the number of cases of sexual harassment at gigs, club nights and music festivals by taking part in a series of campaigns, awareness raising events and fundraising activities.
Whilst Safe Gigs For Women is established in its work with gig-goers, venues, and artists such as Frank Turner and Enter Shikari, this partnership is the first of its kind with a ticketing outlet – often the first port of call for customers wanting to attend a gig, club night or festival.
Ben Sebborn, Co-Founder and Director of Skiddle, commented: “We are delighted to be the first ticketing outlet to work with Safe Gigs For Women, and it is no coincidence that we are launching this partnership on International Women’s Day. Live music events should be an inclusive, enjoyable and memorable experience and everyone should have the opportunity to attend without feeling threatened or harassed. The fact many women do have to put up with unwanted and uninvited attention is inexcusable and as an industry we need to work together to stop this.
“Skiddle has been selling tickets for live music events for almost two decades and we have a huge passion for what we do. The partnership with Safe Gigs For Women shows our solidarity for the cause and our determination to use our platform and our events to inform and change behaviour. We hope by working together we can ensure all live music events are safer and more welcoming spaces in the future.”
Sarah Claudine from Safe Gigs For Women commented: “We are incredibly excited by the opportunities that a partnership with Skiddle can offer our organisation. By working with a ticketing platform of its size, we hope to increase the reach of our message right across the UK, to events of all sizes.
“We want everyone to attend events knowing that they have a right to be respected, and anyone who violates or abuses that is not welcome and their actions will not be tolerated. Safe Gigs for Women has always adopted a ‘pre-emptive’ stance, tackling negative attitudes and behaviours before they have the chance to escalate, and it is our hope that a partnership with Skiddle will allow us to achieve that on a larger scale than ever before.”
