How to deal with rave letches

Sexual harassment in clubs is a widespread issue, across many different forms of music. It is way more common than official reports state, due to the fact that so many incidents go unreported.

How can we all deal with such behaviour? Here’s the first part of a series of key tips, which focuses on what to do if you’re experiencing harassment.

These tips come courtesy of @djrebekah, a trailblazing techno artist, who runs her own label Elements, as well as touring the globe to play an array of prestigious clubs. Rebekah’s #ForTheMusic campaign raises awareness of sexual harassment and assault in the music industry…

MOVE AWAY
Move away from the person who’s doing it. Excuse yourself as quickly as possible and try to get the attention of a friend, or security or anyone that works at the club.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Telling the offender things like, “I'm not feeling okay with this”, “You’re making me uncomfortable”, “Can you please stop”, can be helpful in asserting your boundaries. Especially in clubs when most people are intoxicated and perhaps not as aware of boundaries.

CHECK IN WITH YOURSELF
A lot of the time you’ll find that, generally, people know their assailant. It's not always just a random person in the club. Find some space and check in with yourself to assess if a situation feels uncomfortable. Go to the toilet, get some headspace and consider if the person you’re with is being inappropriate.

DRINK & DRUG AWARENESS
A lot of the sexual harassment is connected to alcohol and drug use. Keeping your awareness on how much you’re doing, and how drunk or high you are, can make a big difference in maintaining boundaries and your ability to assess if something feels good or not.