In partnership with L’Oreal Paris
Harassment, in its many forms, is still rife in public spaces and is something we’ve nearly all seen or experienced. In fact, a 2021 L’Oreal Paris and IPSOS study found that 80% of women have experienced harassment in public spaces, while 76% of people have witnessed it take place.
That’s why at this year’s Luno presents All Points East, L’Oreal Paris continued their campaign against street harassment to empower and educate festival goers on what to do when experiencing or witnessing harassment. Using their 5D methodology of distract, delegate, document, direct and delay, visitors to L’Oreal Paris’ pop-up and stage completed their Stand Up Against Harassment training while having a spot to charge their phones, pick up free beauty essentials and relax between acts.
Since 2018, Luno presents All Points East has brought top-tier line-ups and a week of community-focused events to East London’s Victoria Park. This year was no different, with a festival-first with the Stormzy-curated This Is What We Mean day, a World Cup final screening and incredible headline sets from The Strokes, Haim, Aphex Twin and more.
With such a genre-spanning line-up, Luno presents All Points East entices a hotbed of audiences, notably Gen Z and Millennials, who Preeti Rajan, Marketing Director for European Festivals at AEG Presents sees as “motivated by activism”. And with the queue for training stretching out of the tent every day, they definitely were.
“The way L’Oreal Paris presents the 5 Ds is an amazing way to raise awareness. It’s so digestible and there’s a solution there for everyone,” she explains of their audience’s interest in the campaign. “It’s a great fit as you can give them the facts and solutions, and they’ll know what to do with it.”
AEG Presents’ efforts to look after festival goers doesn’t stop at offering L’Oreal Paris’ Stand Up Against Harassment training too. All staff on site completed the training as part of their health and safety induction, regular security briefings kept teams updated and the Ask For Angela scheme let punters discreetly seek help from unsafe and vulnerable situations.
“Safety and wellbeing is always at the forefront of our minds and it’s something we’re always adding to,” Rajan explains. “We have an obligation to act, help and raise awareness of issues like these to make our events as safe as possible for fans, and leaving them with new skills that will keep them safe in any public space takes that to the next level.
As well as the pop-up activation, L’Oreal Paris and AEG Presents brought awareness to the campaign by taking over a stage featuring upcoming artists like Nell Mescal, Áine Deane, Kingfishr and more. “We’re fortunate enough to have tens of thousands of people coming to our events every single day, so it’s a first point of recognition and awareness,” says Rajan. “We’re so lucky to have L’Oreal Paris with us and be able to use our platform to promote this cause. If we can stop even one instance by equipping people with the tools, then that’s a job well done for everyone.”
Rajan also emphasises the importance of helping punters identify what harassment is and references a recent clip from the reality yachting show Below Deck Down Under where a male and female crewmate were fired for separate incidents of potential sexual assault. “It’s great how much people are talking about it and I really hope what people are taking away is that harassment can be from any gender and that effective management from the captain, his team and the producers stepping in showed how it should be dealt with. All it takes is for someone to call the behaviour out.”
Starting a conversation is one of the many strengths of L’Oreal Paris’ Stand Up Against Harassment campaign. The more people talk about harassment, the more confident they’ll feel about following the 5 Ds and ultimately take action and be part of the solution. Bringing the conversation into a public space like Luno presents All Points East validates experiences and normalises taking action. No one should ever feel unsafe, and by standing up and offering training, L’Oreal Paris and AEG Presents are one step closer to tackling street harassment.
To find out more about the Stand Up Against Street Harassment Training you can take the introductory ten minute online here or register for a more detailed hour long in person session with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust here.