I am womxn, hear me roar: Jozi event celebrates female creatives

Four rapes and 23 sexual assaults at the Swedish music festival Bråvala this year led to the cancellation of next year's event. However, another festival, one that forbids cisgendered males - people whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth - from attending is scheduled to take place next year.

While reports of assault on this scale have not been reported at South African music festivals, it's no secret that womxn and others who don't identify as heterosexual are often victims of similar offences - and it's not just attendees who are affected. Female music industry practitioners report assault at the hands of promoters and fellow artists.

There's also usually a glaring absence of female performers in most music event line-ups. Womxn musicians, regardless of how established they are, often struggle to get bookings in the male-dominated industry.

The second edition of A Night Of Talented Womxn is one of several local attempts by female promoters to bridge that gap, while creating safe spaces for everyone, and womxn in particular, to enjoy live music.

Taking place at the Tennis Club in Johannesburg on Friday, the event, organised by Tourmaline Berg, a music booking agent and promoter, features eight acts, all either solo female performers or bands led by womxn.

The first edition took place in Cape Town in August, and its success prompted Berg to bring the event to the City of Gold. "I was quite nervous about it at first, simply because it's a new concept. But it went really well," she says, adding that the event drew a diverse crowd of young and old revellers.

The line-up for Friday will see the dynamic Moonchild Sanelly perform alongside bands, such as Diamond Thug, the LUMA duo consisting of vocalist Jenny Dison and producer-DJ Alex Leeu, Amy Ayanda, Kajama and DJs Lady Zeejay, Oh Those Guys and Rosie Parade.

WATCH | The music video for Guestlist by Moonchild Sanelly featuring Sketch Bongo and Aewon Wolf

Parade, who organises the monthly Pussy Party at Kitchener's in Braamfontein, is herself a proponent for the promotion of womxn and non-binary musicians.

At a time when the hashtag #MeToo exposed widespread abuse of womxn by men across industries, events like A Night Of Talented Womxn are poised to be a catalyst for a change in music. They shatter the false idea that there's a lack of female performers on the local music scene, something often cited by promoters.

It's up to music fans to show support of womxn's causes on social media. Only then will these events be guaranteed a future.

• Tickets are available on Quicket.

• This article was originally published in The Times.