Say No To Harassment At Public Events

“A public event, as the name suggests, could refer to any event open for the general public. Exhibitions, expositions, fairs, festivals, entertainment, cause-related, fundraising, and leisure events are all examples of a public event.” By definition, public events are supposed to have an inclusion of all. Public events should be about delightful scenes, exciting environment, and smiling people because that’s what we expect out of a public event. Unfortunately, there is a deviation from it because of sexual harassment that is happening at public events. Despite the widespread attention to the issue by the #metoo movement, most of the event industries are turning a blind eye towards it.

Recently, a case being reported is about the Solis Festival Lahore.

Harassment at public events is a common occurrence but not all stories make it to the forefront.

There are many other incidents of harassment that we have heard from our friends and family. The event industry is gaining ground again in Pakistan after a long battle against terrorism. In order to ensure that public events take place frequently, event planners need to be well equipped to deal with the issues of harassment. If we don’t do anything about it now, there is a great chance that instead of inclusion for all, event planners will segregate an already segregated society. Sexual harassment is not just an issue of women in this society, it is about power dynamics and anyone in the position of power is likely to harass someone at their disposal.

Despite the severity of the issue, some event industries and organizations, choose to ignore the issue.

Many in the sector still don’t want to talk about the reality of sexual harassment. What the lack of conversation does is that when an issue of such nature arises, companies generally do not know how to tackle with them. In the case of the Solis Festival scandal, the organizers were not only afraid to accept the issue but many also indulged in slut-shaming of the victim. The reason why organizers are afraid to accept such issues is that they are afraid of bad publicity of their organization. However, what they need to understand is that Pakistani masses are aware of the sexual harassment problem despite its blatant refusal. What they can choose to do instead is accept that a problem occurred, talk to the victim in a sensitized manner and plan ahead for the next time to ensure that such incidents do not take place. In case they do, they should have a proper protocol on how to deal with it.

A solution that will help event organizers in the longer run is acceptance of the issue because that will help create trust among the masses and they will be more likely to attend their events as opposed to organizers who push the issue under the rug.

The purpose here is not to throw an ugly light on public events because we all love to attend them. It has been a while since the Pakistani audience had the chance to engage in music and art festivals. This is a reason enough for the companies to ensure that public events are a pleasurable experience rather than a traumatic one.

The first step for all event organizations is to establish a mission statement that there is a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment.

Some of the steps that event organizers can take are:

The event industry should form a task force especially only for sexual harassment eradication that will identify tools and develop new resources to assist in the task.
They should make an effort to edit their policies and principles to include “explicit wording stating that the organization will not tolerate harassment of any kind,” and implementing stronger zero-tolerance policies. Additionally, they should provide training programs surrounding inclusion, diversity, and appropriate behavior to their employees.
They should educate and train employees and event professionals about sexual harassment and the coexistence of both genders.
Organizations should continue to create spaces for victims to report their stories if they decide to, and these stories and allegations should be taken seriously.
They should create a code of conduct and integrate it into the registration process, so attendees or members have to accept it; and then communicate it again during the event. That way if something does happen, it gives the organization leverage to address and investigate the issue of inappropriate behavior.

The event industry and its leaders should make these powerful changes in their policies against sexual harassment at public events because they have the power to impact a change in society through their events.

What do you think? Do you believe event planners should have some responsibility in the sexual harassment code of conduct at their events? Do let us know in the comments below.

cover image via thedailystar.net