The Swedish music festival, Statement Festival, has recently been ruled to be discriminatory to cisgender males. The 2018 iteration of the festival took place over the summer and was advertised as a festival free of men. There was immediate backlash against the festival and its advertisements, as many felt that the idea of a festival geared towards discouraging men from attending was discriminatory. While the festival did not turn away any men who purchased tickets, the advertising was seen as discriminating against any men who may wish to attend. Now a member of the Swedish Equality Ombudsman has determined that the festival and its organizers are guilty of committing discriminatory acts against a group. The Equality Ombudsman is a sector of Sweden’s federal government which handles cases of the law involving discrimination against any group, mainly on the bases of gender, religion, race or ethnicity.

The festival took place in Gothenburg, Sweden from September 30th to August 1st, and featured a lineup of exclusively female and transgender artists. Some of the more notable acts from the festival included the English band Girlschool, Swedish singer Beatrice Eli and comedian Nour El-Refai. Many of the performers at the festival have strong backgrounds in social activism, often using their platforms as a way to spread their messages and encourage listeners to be more active members of society. Overall, the goal for the festival was to provide a safe place for female, transgender and nonbinary music fans to enjoy some of their favorite artists without the fear of any violence or sexual aggression. The organizers of Statement Festival have stated that their mission was to stand out against the misconduct that takes place towards women at many other festivals, often times due to the lack of what they see as proper security measures. They felt that this festival was a reaction to the problems that face women at many other festivals; declaring that they meant no discrimination, but instead to provide a safer place for women.

Sweden’s Discrimination Ombudsman (DO) was the one responsible for the ruling itself, citing the organization’s advertisement discouraging the involvement of one group as grounds for being discriminatory. In practice, the festival did allow men to attend and did not turn anyone away due to gender, but the DO felt that simply the advertising of the festival as “man-free” was against Sweden’s anti-discrimination laws. After the ruling, the organizers have stated that they disagree with the DO’s ruling and will continue to move forward with creating a safe festival for women. They feel that the success of the festival, which had around 5,000 attendees, proves that the people desire events like the Statement Festival and will support attempts at projects such as this. A video made by the festival’s organizers summarizing the experience of the event can be found below.