I had my first gig in 2013, my female friend who ran a successful night in Birmingham offered it to me and I was instantly met with misogyny. I was offered a residency after my first gig there, but the male’s of the crew made sure I didn’t get a set in the main room.

After a few weeks I was offered a gig in another club. I planned it for weeks and played to a packed dance floor. After I finished I walked away from the decks and a male DJ who was playing after me grabbed my arm aggressively and said “you do realise you only got this gig because you are eye candy?” I’ll never forget that crushing feeling and how hurt I was that weeks work meant nothing.

After that I was often offered gigs, but always had male DJs coming up, turning the EQ’s when I was playing, taking over my tracks and complaining about levels (even though they were fine). There was a group of male DJs in Birmingham who took special offence to me being a female techno DJ. Publically declaring that I was a ‘fake arsed DJ whore’ just because I was getting offered more sets than them. Even called a mediocre techno bitch who wore lipstick – for no other reason than I was getting gigs.

The first time I had a big gig at the Rainbow, the DJ after me came up on the decks, grabbed my breasts really hard – and spat in my ear ‘ that’s our little secret eh?’…. my boyfriend at the time was on the dance floor – I was scared to tell him because I thought he might kick off and ruin my first big opportunity but by not telling him I felt like I was agreeing to this dirty little secret.

It deflated me. This went on for years.

I started running my own nights around 2015. At first I was often finding male DJ’s refusing to work with me, often asking to speak to my partner when it came to technical set ups or DJ equipment. I was pushed into a toilet by a bouncer at the start of one night – aggressively pushed against the wall and offered a note with a line – like some sort of bribe. I was terrified when he was pushing himself up against me – and only stopped when someone came in the toilets.

When I started running my latest night it was started, and still is run by myself and another girl. I still get resistance from ‘some’ men, still looked at like some kind of joke at times and even when booking big names and popular DJ’s, a selection of men will refuse to come, just because its my party. I barred someone recently because of his attitude to women at our nights, touching them up mostly- he publicly went on Facebook saying our nights weren’t ‘inclusive’ and we were a bunch of stuck up bitches….the amount of people that had sympathy for him was insane. Yet totally ignoring the whole reason why he had been removed.

In the end it’s made me stronger and made me want to achieve more.

I met a very famous techno DJ in the UK in 2004, when I was a teenager. I was a huge fan of his and was excited to see him play in my favourite club with a group of friends. A female friend and I were dancing in front of the DJ booth where we caught the DJ’s eye. He said: “I’ll see you ladies later.”

We would regularly stay in the club after the night ended, where we would have a drink and decide what to do after. On this occasion, the DJ joined us and started chatting to me and my female friend, before inviting us back to his hotel for an after party. Excited, we agreed and asked if we could bring our friends.

The DJ said we could bring our guy friend, who was standing there with us, and that the others could join later. We got in a taxi together and it was so exciting. I was a real music nerd so I was asking him all these questions about his tracks. We were having the most amazing chat. It was all so surreal. It felt like one of those bucket list moments when you meet your musical heroes.

When we got back to the hotel, we went up to the DJ’s room and he ordered a couple of bottles of red wine for us to share. We were chatting about music and politics and just laughing a lot. We were probably there for a couple of hours, just drinking wine and chatting. I remember the sun coming up and feeling really happy — like ‘this is amazing, what a wonderful, wonderful experience’.

All of a sudden, I felt extremely tired, and like I had to close my eyes. I went over to sit on the bed, where I passed out. The DJ asked my male friend to leave soon after I passed out, and he complied, leaving my female friend and I in the hotel room.

The next thing I recall was someone touching me on my side. I opened my eyes and remember feeling really disoriented. I saw the DJ standing in front of me, completely naked and with an erection. Before I could say anything, he kissed me and shoved his tongue down my throat. I was really shocked. I made it clear I didn’t want that.

The DJ moved away from me, and I told my female friend that we needed to go. As we began to gather our things, the DJ went crazy. He sat on the bed, pulled the covers over his bottom half and started insulting me. He was shouting, insulting my appearance — it felt like he was just trying to grab on to anything he could to attack me.

I remember thinking ‘this is really surreal, I’m having an argument with this famous DJ, who’s old enough to be my dad and is naked in bed in front of me’. When it was clear we were leaving he gave me this crazy stare, it was almost cross-eyed — like he was trying to wish death on me. It was really intimidating. He angrily said ‘I never want to see you again’ as I left the room. My friend and I left the hotel and I went to meet a friend at a nearby after party, who I had called crying. 

The incident has had a lasting impact on my life. I missed a lot of school afterwards, in my A-Level year. I felt like such an idiot and really blamed myself for being so naive. It was like I’d all of a sudden grown up and seen the world for what it was. It really affected me for a few years. Before this happened, I wanted to be a DJ and had been saving up to buy decks — but I felt like I’d fucked it all up before it even started. I was worried about running into him in person, and him shouting or getting angry at me. I really felt like he would have the power to say ‘remove that girl from the bill’ or ‘blacklist her’ if he ever saw my name on a line-up, which sounds ridiculous now. But I really thought he was that powerful, and at that time, he was.

I had put the incident behind me until recently, when I noticed other allegations circling online about the DJ. For years I thought I was the only person he did this to, but now I realise I am not alone.

As a teenager I used to go to basic clubs mostly because my friends went but I hated it, the top-40 music and the club culture were the main reason to go out and to hit on girls/guys and get hooked up at the end of the night. During that time I experienced sexual harassment, abuse and a guy raped me while I was sleeping at an after party. These constant traumatic experiences developed PTSD within me.

When I found the techno scene I felt like I belonged, the dance floor was home to me and the friends I met through the scene became family. And it was amazing that the main motivation to go to a show was to enjoy the music and dancing or at least it seemed like it. I felt free and safe in this environment and I became a dedicated two-step dancer. However, by now already two times men have raped me and still a lot of the time I go to raves I experience sexual harassment. 

First time a guy raped me, I think I got spiked or just too high and ended up leaving the club with a guy who was driving us to a hotel near by and raped me, I believe he must have been sober. I tried to convince myself that it was just a drunken hook-up but I have no memories of going there and I had lost all of my stuff in the club already including my keys and phone so how could I ever have given consent in that state. I remember trying to report this; I went to my doctor and told him what happened but he advised me to got to the ER which I never went to because I had a panic attack and hurried home instead. My PTSD got triggered again and I had a manic episode for the first time. Later I was diagnosed with manic-depression which I think was triggered by that event. Despite this I still went clubbing because after all it still was like a home to me. 

At some point I got interested in learning how to mix and got introduced to an older man who was a promoter/Dj in a club and he offered to teach me. We practiced at a club he was working in. It was so motivating to get better at mixing so I kind of was blind to whatever was happening and ignored that I was actually experiencing sexual harassment from him, like touching and comments about my looks etc whenever we had a practice session. We also went out often after practicing and had drinks together and whenever he got drunk he became even more touchy and at some point forced himself to kiss me.

After that I said that I just wanted to be friends with him and distanced myself from him for a while. But I missed playing and I did not have any place to practice and could not afford to buy my own stuff so I got in touch with him again. For a while he did act normal but eventually started to harass me again. I told him again to back up and he did for a while but then it started again. It continued like that few months – every now and then he crossed the line but I tolerated the harassment from him because I wanted to practice mixing. A good friend of mine warned me about him and said that I should be careful with him. I noticed all the red flags and I always felt uncomfortable with him but again the passion for mixing and music made me ignore the problem.

Until one night it finally escalated. I went to a club with a guy I was seeing back then and the predator was there as well. We were all hanging together but he got very jealous and possessive towards me and kept giving me drinks although I was already drunk, you know like over that point you don’t notice it anymore. At some point I totally blacked out and I have blurry memories of us leaving the club together and the next thing I woke up next to him without any clothes on. Afterwards I got some flash backs about the night, that I wanted to get home so we took an Uber together and instead of dropping me home we went straight to his place and he raped me while I was laying in bed completely passed out.

Afterwards I texted him asking what happened and he got defensive right away. He claimed that there was a consent. He even said “sometimes it happens, that friends end up hooking up” and got very offended when I said I was way too drunk and do not remember anything about it. Later I blocked him but did not report what happened. I guess because we were “friends” and it was back then unclear to me what actually happened and I was questioning myself and the narrative. It was easier to cope with it by being in denial. Luckily I was already going through therapy so I instantly received help to process what happened. 

After these traumatic events, I still continue going to raves as I still feel like I’m at home on the dance floor. However, I feel like I have to be very careful, not get too drunk/high or I need to have a buddy with me to kind of look after me which sucks. Rarely straight guys have to think of these things. I also love to go dancing just by myself but whenever I go I feel tense and have to be cautious. It takes a big part of the fun out of such a precious thing to me. Luckily, some clubs and raves have succeed in creating a safe place though. These places usually are QUEER clubs/parties which have strict door policy and safety measures. I believe that the #ForTheMusic movement will raise awareness about this big problem we have in our otherwise so liberating and amazing scene and I hope it can help create safer places for everyone to enjoy music and dancing without fear.

I’m 25 years old and have been active as a Dj and event organizer in my city since I was 17. I originally started off doing events because I found it nearly impossible to compete or be taken seriously. It was weird. There were male Djs my age just starting off at the time and they were able to get bookings and yet no matter how much I practiced, put out content, networked, I was constantly brushed aside. So I decided if no one would book me, I’d book myself. And thats kind of how the event planning started. In a way, I’m glad it did because hosting events has become such an integral part of my life and has given me a real sense of pride, achievement and opportunity for stuff like travel. 

After my first ever event, I ended up getting booked in a nearby city by one of the people I had hired to do the lighting/ mapping. I was ecstatic. I was not even old enough to be in the club and I was booked peak hour. I remember feeling so happy. I could not stop smiling the 6 hour greyhound bus ride there. While playing, near the end of my set, I was handed a drink from the organizer which had Ghb in it. Long story short, I was lured out of the venue and assaulted in his car. I didn’t know anyone in this city so I just collected myself long enough that I could get on the first greyhound bus back once I was feeling better. I never came forward because this person was loved and well connected in the community. I just felt this social pressure to shut up about the entire experience. I also panicked after the fact and it happened so many years ago that it would just be his word against mine. 

What I find sad is that when I talk to my fellow female artists, so many of them have similar experiences. It’s frustrating to know that to start off, we not only need to work that much harder but then on top of that we need to deflect all these unwanted advances and work that much harder to keep ourselves safe.

I kind of took that experience and realized that as an organizer I now felt I had the responsibility to watch over others and keep them safe especially while under my roof. There are a lot of young inebriated people who come to my events. It’s important to have people there who have the one responsibility to keep an eye out. I also make sure that my line ups are balanced in terms of gender. And not for the sake of novelty. There is a lot of talented hard working men and women out there. If I can give everyone their opportunity to shine, well then I feel like I’m doing what I need to be doing.

It was 2018, like every Saturday I went to dance with my friend. I was really excited, Amelie Lens was playing! I was so anxious that I arrived an hour earlier and stayed close to the front by the DJ Booth all evening. There were many people, we were all very close to the point that you couldn’t see the floor. Suddenly I felt a tap on the shoulder, it was a girl. She said “honey, be careful!”, I looked around and saw nothing. I continued to dance and have fun. A few minutes later, the same girl pushed me, I thought she wanted to hurt me but in reality she was just dodging me from a “man” who had pulled out his penis and was touching himself, right behind me, while looking at me. 

Security intervened after about a minute, after I started screaming like crazy. Fortunately the bouncer saw me right away as I was very close to him and I managed to get noticed. The point is that if I had been in the middle of the dance floor maybe he would have harassed me and no one would have noticed. I felt so small and helpless at the time. I was scared, but the biggest fear was realizing that the worst things happen right in front of everyone’s eyes.