Earlier this year, several music festivals in Sweden made headlines following a spate of sexual assaults on women, most notably at the Bråvalla and Putte I Parken events.
A group of women responded by launching a Kickstarter campaign to hold an event that is for women only - and it was sufficiently successful that the first Statement Festival is scheduled for 2018.
The festival, which set (and reached) a fundraising target of 500,000 Swedish krona (€52,000) will be for women only - cis, non-binary and transgender - and no men will be allowed to attend, despite protests and petitions at such an event being held. It is not illegal to exclude a group based on their gender in Sweden, provided that it is made "in good intention."
"If you, as a man or woman, are upset by the idea of ​​a men-free festival, you may instead be upset about how many women are asked to stay home [by] friends and family when they plan to go to the festival or elsewhere," organisers said. "Put your energy on what is actually unfair. You as a man are just offended because you can not do as you like for once, which you are used to."
Dates or acts for the festival have not yet been announced.
