Stockholm venues suspend club nights due to repeated sexual assaults

quote:

---

A popular nightlife spot in Stockholm has put several of its club nights on hold following an increase in sexual assault, violence and thefts, the venue announced.

"We had an enormous amount of messages, particularly from female guests, who complained of sexual harassment and bad attitudes," Ingmari Pagenkemper, Managing and Artistic Director at the Södra Teatern club on Södermalm, told The Local.

---

quote:

---

Security staff had regularly been ejecting people identified as gropers or troublemakers, she said – sometimes as many as 15 on a single night – but the combination of darkness, loud music, and a large venue occasionally made it difficult to identify those responsible.

---

quote:

---

"For some reason, some nights with a certain kind of music attracted large groups of men who can't behave themselves - I really don't know why," said Pagenkemper. "But it is unacceptable to have guests or staff feeling unsafe."

---

quote:

---

We are working on finding a solution that allows us to protect our guests while continuing to be an open, democratic, warm venue," she explained. "We could be tougher on the door or have a strict guestlist, but that's not what we stand for." "We don't want to reject people based on how they look or assumptions about what they might do.

We're proud to offer such a diverse range of events and we welcome everyone – except those who can't behave."

---

quote:

---

Last year, police handed out 'anti-groping' wristbands ahead of the summer festival season, aimed at raising awareness of the problem and getting potential perpetrators to think twice

---