The events industry prides itself on bringing people together. Brilliant venues, smooth logistics, the right music at exactly the right moment. What it has been considerably less good at, it turns out, is looking after the people who make all of that happen.
A landmark new survey launched this week is asking those people to speak up, and the figures already on record make for uncomfortable reading.
What happened
On 17 June 2026, the Network of Women in Events CIC (NOWIE) launched the second edition of the NOWIE Big Survey, a UK-wide research project examining the lived experiences of women working across the events, live entertainment, music and festival industries.
The survey did not arrive in a vacuum. NOWIE's inaugural 2025 study, which gathered responses from women working across the sector, found that approximately one in four respondents reported having experienced sexual assault linked to their work in events. The same research exposed widespread under-reporting, with women describing significant barriers to speaking out, including fears of losing future work, the precariousness of freelance employment, and concerns about professional repercussions.
"The events industry is an incredible space to work in, but the findings from our previous survey made it clear that too many women are still navigating unsafe environments, inconsistent reporting structures and a lack of accountability." (Cat Kevern, Managing Director, NOWIE)
The 2026 survey expands on that foundation significantly. NOWIE is targeting more than 1,000 respondents, which would make it one of the largest datasets of its kind focused on women's safety and workplace culture within the UK events sector. The research will cover sexual harassment and assault, reporting procedures and barriers, employer accountability, safeguarding standards, freelance and touring vulnerabilities, career progression, and broader workplace culture.
The survey runs until August 2026, with full findings and recommendations to be published in September. NOWIE has also begun engaging with politicians and policymakers, with MP Jo Platt formally endorsing the project and the organisation aiming to bring findings into parliamentary discussions before the year is out.
Why events are a particular risk environment
It would be easy to treat this as a festival or touring industry problem and move on. It is not. According to TPi Magazine, the UK events sector spans weddings, conferences, exhibitions, corporate events, festivals, and large-scale mega events, representing a £60 billion industry. Every corner of that sector is within scope.
The structural factors that create risk are also present across all event types. Events are high-pressure environments often built on informal relationships and a culture of flexibility. Many workers are freelancers, which means there is no HR department and no clear line manager to report to. Shifts run late. Alcohol is often on site. Professional networks are tight and reputational consequences for speaking up can feel very real.
NOWIE's first survey found that these conditions contributed directly to under-reporting. Women who did experience harm frequently chose silence over risking the relationships and future bookings their careers depended on. The second survey will try to quantify just how widespread that silence has been.
What this means for event organisers
If you are organising conferences, corporate summits, or trade shows, the NOWIE survey is directly relevant to your operation. You have a duty of care to the staff, contractors, suppliers, and freelancers who work with you, and the findings that are already published suggest that many organisations are not meeting it.
Practically, this is what good safeguarding looks like for event teams:
- Clear reporting pathways. Everyone working your event should know who to speak to if something goes wrong, and that person should not be the only option. One designated point of contact is a single point of failure. Consider two contacts: one internal, one independent.
- Written policies that cover freelancers and contractors. If your safeguarding policy only covers direct employees, it covers a fraction of the people on your event floor. Freelancers often represent the majority of working staff at large events.
- Briefings, not just documents. Handing someone a policy PDF at check-in is not a safeguarding process. A short verbal briefing during onboarding, covering who to contact and what support is available, is far more likely to be used.
- Post-event feedback mechanisms. Anonymous surveys after events can surface concerns that people did not feel safe raising during the event itself.
None of this is especially complicated or expensive. The gap is largely one of intention and consistency, not resources.
The regulatory direction of travel
NOWIE's engagement with Westminster is worth noting. The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 placed a positive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Enforcement guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission has continued to develop since then, and NOWIE's 2026 findings are likely to feed into any further regulatory discussion.
For event organisations operating across the UK, the direction of travel is clearly toward greater employer accountability, not less. Having documented safeguarding processes in place now, rather than when a regulator or a parliamentary committee asks about them, is the more comfortable position to be in.
Beyond regulation, there is also the straightforward argument that people do better work when they feel safe. The events industry recruits from a talent pool that is under no obligation to stay if the working conditions are poor. Building a reputation as an organiser who takes people's safety seriously is an asset, not just a compliance box.
What is next
The NOWIE Big Survey 2026 is open now at nowie.org and will run until August. NOWIE is actively seeking industry organisations, employers, venues, and agencies to help amplify the survey and increase participation.
Full findings will be published in September. Those findings will almost certainly be cited in trade press, shared in professional networks, and referenced in regulatory discussions. Reading them when they land, rather than discovering the implications later, is the more useful approach.
The events industry has a genuine opportunity here: to get ahead of this, build better processes, and be part of the solution rather than the example used in a September press release.
At eventcloud, we believe the best events are the ones where everyone involved, from the organiser to the last person packing down the room, feels that their presence and their safety matter. That does not require a grand policy overhaul. It requires paying attention, and acting on what you find.
