Female DJs have described experiencing "blatant misogyny", harassment and intimidation while performing and said women are often treated as "guests" rather than professionals behind the decks. Anna McAteer, Andrea Shearer and Julie Dunne have all spoken about experiences ranging from unwanted interference with equipment and inappropriate comments to physical intimidation. They said the problem reflects wider attitudes towards women working in nightlife, rather than being the fault of the venues and promoters themselves.
Shearer said she had "never really seen it happen to a male colleague". "I just still think that there's a bit of an attitude that women are somehow guests in the space rather than DJs that have earned their place there," she said. "Whereas whenever it comes to a man in the booth, it's just not even a question." She said women face a different level of scrutiny and unwanted attention simply because they were performing.
Shearer said she was subjected to online abuse earlier this year when a man from Belfast posted about her on Facebook, calling her a poor DJ and claiming that she only received gigs because she was a woman. She said he also falsely claimed she performed sexual favours to obtain bookings. "It's just insane to have someone kind of boil all of my hard work that I've done towards this down to who I've slept with," she said.
She also pointed to comments aimed at female DJs on social media, where discussions about their music can be overshadowed by comments about their appearance. She's doing her job." McAteer, an up-and-coming Belfast DJ who has played at venues across Northern Ireland, including AVA Festival, said she had repeatedly experienced people entering the DJ booth or interfering with her set. She said during one recent performance a man came up behind her and started rewinding one of the decks.
She described it as the fourth incident of its kind in about a year. On another occasion she said a man had to be removed from the booth three times before returning and scrolling through the USB containing her music. "He was just insisting that he's a DJ as well," she said.
McAteer said the behaviour also creates a safety issue. "I've been quite lucky not to have too many physical encounters whenever I've been playing, but one did stand out to me." She recalled an incident involving an older man who approached her while she was DJing and began asking explicit questions before touching her equipment. McAteer said it is "very uncomfortable and it's just, in my opinion, not on".
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