In light of recent accusations of sexual assault against Erick Morillo, Bassnectar and Billy Kenny, it’s important we all understand the definition of sexual assault and are able to fully contextualize it within the music space. Sexual assault is a form of sexual violence and can be defined in different ways. But first and foremost, the thing to fully grasp is this: it is never the victim’s fault, period. Drugs and alcohol are commonplace in the music industry and nightlife in general, and all too often non-consensual drugging plays a role in sexual assaults. Regardless, whether non-consensual drugging takes place or not, victim-blaming remains commonplace with “responsibility” for the assault levied on the victim’s use of alcohol and drugs, rather than on the perpetrator of the assault. This is not ok and has been used far too long to justify predatory behavior that we must eradicate not just from the music space, but from society at large.
Despite the rampant substance (ab)use in the music space, we, its community members, need to start denormalizing rape culture and violence against our community members, and in particular women and trans.
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