Woodstock ‘99 rape survivors deserve more than a five-minute mention

Forget Fyre Festival – Woodstock ‘99 was the original masterclass in how not to organise a large-scale music event. Beyond just pissing off a bunch of rich kids with shoddy accommodation and lacklustre sandwiches, the orchestrators of Woodstock ‘99 failed to factor in basic requirements, such as security, sanitation and public welfare – to the point attendees literally burnt the thing to the ground (with candles provided to them by staff, of course).

As younger generations are now discovering through Netflix’s new three-part docu-series Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99, in addition to the piles of trash, lack of hygiene, water (unless of the $12 bottled variety) and personnel to keep things contained and safe, the event organisers willingly allowed women to be groped, harassed, assaulted and raped by frat boy-types.

Artists and attendees alike were heckled with demands to “show [their] tits”; women in the crowd were attacked and surrounded by men; crowd-surfing was used as an excuse to cop a feel. It was, in short, barbaric.

Following the event, several rape allegations surfaced. In a contemporary report by the Washington Post, an attendee named David Schneider detailed one attack he witnessed in the mosh pit during Korn’s set.

“I saw someone push this girl into the mosh pit, a very skinny girl, maybe 90 to 100 pounds,” he said. “Then a couple of the guys started taking her clothes off – not so much her top but her bottom. They pulled her pants down and they were violating her, and they were passing her back and forth. There were five guys that were raping this girl and having sex with her.”

A 24-year-old woman from Pittsburgh claimed that during Limp Bizkit’s set two men assaulted her with their fingers and “some type of foreign object,” before one of them raped her.

In the Netflix documentary, the production manager of the rave hanger also details how he discovered an unconscious, unclothed, underage girl in the back of a van that had been driven into the crowd during Fatboy Slim’s set. She required immediate medical attention.

Addressing the incidents in a particularly stomach-churning interview, the event’s promoter, John Scher, not only insinuates that female attendees who decided to go topless or crowd surf were in some way asking to be violated and manhandled, he later attempts to rationalise the number of reported rapes.

“Woodstock was like a small city, you know?” He said. “All things considered, I’d say that there would probably be as many or more rapes in any sized city of that… but it wasn’t anything that gained enough momentum so that it caused any on-site issues, other than, of course, the women it happened to.”

Viewers have – quite rightly – expressed their outrage about Scher’s flippant and offensive comments. But what bothered me further was the documentary’s handling of the subject. Not only was it confined to less than five minutes, making it feel like a footnote to all the other acts of debauchery and violence, the showmakers made an active decision to show women being harassed and assaulted, without any warning or attempt to protect their identity.

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It’s one thing to call out the event organisers for their complete lack of foresight, care and compassion, and condone them for not safeguarding women attendees at the event. But it feels like lip service when the series itself is taking advantage of these same women and glossing over the topic.

These women deserved more at the time and they deserve more now. Imagine, some 23 years later, seeing yourself being assaulted on screen. Imagine having that deeply disturbing moment played out not just in front of you and your loved ones, but to the whole world.

Even for those not in attendance of Woodstock ‘99, the images are harrowing and hard to watch. For women who have been subjected to similar violations and attacks, it is extremely triggering.

While it is of course important to raise awareness about these issues and shine a light on these dark moments in history, it is paramount that those affected are at the front and centre of the narrative. Netflix can and should do better.