Women who work as DJs in Wales say concerns about safety, harassment and sexual assault are a normal part of their work.
Some said they were stalked, attacked or intimidated while working at clubs and festivals.
“I’ve had men grab me and force me to kiss them,” says DJ and broadcaster Katie Owen.
“A man followed me out of my car late at night, ran to my front door and tried to follow me in… I felt very vulnerable.”
Many women said they now avoid late-night gigs, change the way they get home, or consider leaving the industry entirely, while several DJs contacted by the BBC declined to speak on the record because their experiences were too difficult to relive.
They are calling on venues, promoters and security teams to take urgent action to make the industry safer and more equal.
Katie Owen says she’s scared to promote her work on social media after bad experience while performing [Katie Owen]
Rhondda Cynon Taf, who raised Ms Owen in Merthyr Tydfil and Pontyclun, said fear had become part of the way she planned her life.
She has been DJing for eight years and her career has included presenting on BBC Radio 1, performing on the main stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals and touring with Kasabian.
But she said these career highs also came with repeated harassment and abuse.
“I’ve gotten comments like, ‘You only got this job because you slept with the promoter.'”
“This kind of harassment is considered more acceptable for women. You don’t hear that being said about male DJs.”
At one point, Ms. Owen said, the situation became so serious that she stopped promoting her show online altogether.
“I had a stalker who would show up on my sets,” she said.
“I would feel sick behind the decks because I didn’t know if they were in the room. You’re trapped in there, performing and feeling watched.”
She added that since the pandemic, she has become more picky about the jobs she takes on.
“I won’t go to a show that ends after 01:00 now unless I can get a taxi home,” she said.
“But we shouldn’t have to pay to get home safely just because we’re women. We should be able to ride night buses without being harassed or followed.”
‘It’s definitely harder for women’
DJ Esyllt Williams, who has worked in nightclubs in Wales, Bristol and London for more than 20 years, says inequality has been a constant companion throughout her career.
“It’s definitely more difficult for women,” she said.
“There’s a lot of prejudice. People treat you differently and it’s hard to get a job and be taken seriously.”
Ms Williams said she was often asked if she was “really a DJ” even when she was clearly performing.
“I had my headphones on and I was the only one there, [but] Instead, they would talk to the men standing nearby, ask them about the music, and congratulate them. “
Ms Williams said she had experienced violence while working as a DJ over the past 20 years [BBC]
Ms. Williams added that viewers often felt entitled to invade her space.
“People think they have the right to tell you how to do your job,” she said.
“They’re trying to get into the booth, touch the equipment, touch you. They’re standing too close. It makes people feel intimidated and unsafe.”
She described an incident in which a drunk man became violent after she prevented him from accessing the deck.
“He grabbed my hands and slammed them against the glass,” she said.
“He wouldn’t let go and my hand was so swollen that I couldn’t even hold the pen the next day.
“The bouncers eventually took him away, but then nothing happened. Everyone moved on.”
Williams added that safety concerns often extend beyond the venue itself.
“I was followed into my car, followed into a taxi,” she said.
“These are things that male DJs often don’t have to think about.”
“You build defense mechanisms just to cope”
Radio host and club DJ Molly Palmer says intimidation and abuse are recurring features of her working life.
“I had people yelling at me and throwing things at me,” she said.
“People are constantly showing up, looking at my equipment, trying to intimidate me, telling me I don’t know what I’m doing.”
She added: “I’ve been doing this for a long time. I know a lot of male DJs who don’t have to deal with this at all.”
Molly Palmer calls for more education for music industry workers to improve safety [Molly Palmer]
Ms Palmer said the impact went beyond individual incidents, adding: “You put up defenses just to get the job done.
“This is something my male counterparts simply don’t have to do.”
She also pointed out the lack of diversity in festival line-ups in Wales.
“You often see the same handful of women being booked over and over again. This raises questions about where the opportunities are and where women, non-binary and trans people are supported to learn and progress.
“It is wrong for women to go to work knowing they may face verbal or sexual abuse.
“Security teams need better training to recognize what’s going on and intervene.”
Activist Trishna Singh-Davies sets up group dedicated to supporting women in music industry [BBC]
Activist Trishna Singh-Davies, who founded the Ladies of Rage support group to provide a safe space for women to DJ, learn and train, says its goal is to tackle the root causes of inequality.
“The work we’re doing is changing the industry so that when my three-month-old baby turns 21, she sees the music industry as a level playing field,” she said.
“She should not have to experience sexism in the workplace. This isn’t just a space for men – it’s for anyone with skills, talent and passion.”
BBC Wales contacted organizations in Wales to ask what measures were in place to protect female performers but received no reply.