Coachella popped off last weekend and three more days of fun in sunny California remain. But as it turns out, the iconic music festival isn’t all flower crowns and rainbows. There’s a lot of sexual harassment, too.


A devastating report has come through Teen Vogue, which reveals the troubling stories of women being sexually violated on sexual grounds. The article details 54 different accounts in which women were groped, inappropriately touched, or otherwise harassed at the music festival.

Teen Vogue Wellness Editor Vera Papisova tells her own accounts, mixed in with the stories of those she interviewed. While on assignment, she claims she was groped a total of 22 times herself. The headline says it all: Sexual Harassment Was Rampant at Coachella 2018.

Here’s one example:

“One guy followed me across the field to the Mojave stage, where I was meeting a friend to see FIDLAR. When my friend left to see another band, I stayed behind, and this guy came up behind me and whispered, ‘You’re a goddess’ and then rubbed his hands on my hips and butt. I knew it was the guy who followed me over earlier because I recognized his Pablo merch. This is why I usually wear a backpack in concert settings — it forces distance between the stranger behind me and my body.”

And another:

“In another instance, I was waiting in line for the bathroom and heard Tyler, the Creator start his set on the main stage behind me. A stranger walked up to me and said that he loved my leopard-print suit. I thanked him, and he proceeded to say he’d love to get in the bathroom stall with me. When I told him not to talk to me like that, he exclaimed,’Whoa, that’s a lot of attitude for a no-name model.’ Nobody around me did anything to help.”

There’s plenty more:

“Me and my friends were just dancing yesterday during the Weeknd’s set. A few guys came over and just poked us and started dancing with us and wouldn’t leave us alone. They kind of swarmed us. Then one was putting his face in our face, seeing if we’d kiss him, but he went down the line. I think they think that since we wear what we want to wear, they are entitled to touch us.”

This is the harsh reality of what some people experience in what’s supposed to be a safe, loving music community. It’s important to be conscious, self aware, and also look out for others around you.

This needs to stop.