Dozens of Women Molested By ‘Foreign Youths’ at Swedish Music Festival

According to Swedish police, 32 sexual assaults were reported at the Putte i Parken music festival in Karlstad on Friday. And at the Bravalla Festival is Norrkoping, there were 12 reports of molestation and five reports of rape. Most of the women were under the age of 18, with one as young as 12 years old. But to the surprise of no one, the vast majority of witnesses claim that the assailants were young men and boys from foreign countries.

Swedish police are currently examining seven suspects, six of whom were foreign-born. According to one of the victims, the young men made verbal threats and repeatedly groped these women at the crowded venue, where it was nearly impossible to identify them in the dark. “The groping was at first a bit innocent. Just a touch on the bottom. Something that you can do by mistake in a big crowd of people. But it became worse and worse after that. The one touching me was becoming more and more rough every time.”

She also admitted that there were probably far more incidents that weren’t reported. “I think that at least hundreds were molested at the festival. There are probably loads of unrecorded incidents…they were probably immigrants. I hate to say it. But it is the truth.”

Several musicians at the venue have expressed their disgust over what happened, including the British band Mumford and Sons. “We’re appalled to hear what happened at the Bravalla Festival last weekend,” they wrote in a Facebook post, before announcing that they will not be playing at that venue until the police start “doing something to combat what appears to be a disgustingly high rate of reported sexual violence.”