Sweden: Women-only music festival falls foul of discrimination laws

A music festival billed as being “male-free” has been found guilty of discrimination by Sweden’s Discrimination Ombudsman (DO).

The regulator noted that the publicity surrounding the event, which was held earlier this year, “discouraged a certain group from attending”.

In a Facebook post, the organisers of the event said they were “too busy changing the world” to respond to the decision.

“It’s sad that what 5,000 women, non-binaries and transgender [people] experienced as a life-changing festival made a few cis men lose it completely,” the post added.

“The success of the Statement festival shows that is exactly what we need, and the DO’s verdict doesn’t change this fact.”

The ruling acknowledged that men were not prevented from attending, adding that “no differentiation based on sex was made between visitors at entry” and that, as such, no financial penalties would be imposed.

The festival was marketed as “the world’s first major music festival for women, non-binary and transgender [people] only” and was established by Swedish comedian Emma Knyckare in the wake of a large number of sexual offences at Bravalla, Sweden’s biggest music festival last year.

“Certain men … apparently cannot behave. It’s a shame. We have therefore decided to cancel Bravalla 2018,” organisers said at the time.

Ms Knyckare said the festival was intended as a one-off.

She said: “The thing we want to do is a really big, nice, loud music festival that is a safe zone for women, transgender and non-binary people,” she said.

“It’s not a solution, it’s a reaction. But it’s not a political statement, more of a safe zone where people can just hang out, drink beer and have fun without looking over their shoulders.”

The DO said: “The decision to initiate supervision against Statement should not be considered as an issue of the serious problem of sexual abuse, including at festivals.

“DO obviously believes that all visitors to the festivals must be able to feel safe.”