Sweden's Statement Festival has seemingly been found guilty of discrimination.
The event boasted an all-female line up, and while men were technically allowed to attend they were encouraged not to – those who did were placed in 'men-pens' at the side of the arena.
The move followed the cancellation of Bråvalla festival this year, following a spate of sexual assaults at 2017's instalment.
Intended as a progressive move, Statement Festival has earned the criticism of Sweden's Discrimination Ombudsman who has ruled the "male-free" environment failed to uphold anti-discrimination laws.
“It is important to point out what an infringement is,” said DO Class Lundstedt said in a statement. “These are the statements made before the festival, what they wrote on their website. Still, we haven’t been able to prove that someone would have been discriminated against in connection with the implementation or that someone would have been rejected.”
Lundstedt added: “Clearly, we believe that sexual abuse, especially at festivals, is a serious problem. So we are looking forward to trying to correct this. However, it shouldn’t happen in a way that violates the law, which their statements in the media and their website do.”
Statement Festival responded by saying "we are busy changing the world" before adding: "The success of the statement festival shows that we are needed and the decision does not change that fact."
Read a full interview with Statement Festival's team HERE.
