When the volunteer board that oversees programming at The Mr. Roboto Project surveyed visitors for suggestions about improving the do-it-yourself music performance space, they didn’t know what to expect. But they certainly were surprised by what they got.
In response to a question asking, “Do you feel that The Mr. Roboto Project is a safe space? Why or why not?” a frightening trend emerged.
“No I’ve seen abusers there,” wrote one respondent. Many others echoed those concerns.
“I was pissed off,” says Pam Hanlin, Roboto’s facilities manager. “I knew these things were going on, but I didn’t realize it was happening in our space, where we’re supposed to feel the most safe. It was completely shocking to me, thinking there were actual sexual predators around us.”
Rather than sweep the accusations under the rug to protect the organization’s image, board members turned to Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, a group that helps victims of sexual assault, for help. This month, PAAR will begin hosting a series of workshops on dealing with and reducing sexual violence at Roboto, a move they hope will help address the problem of sexual violence in the music scene and signal to offenders that their behavior is unacceptable.
“We want everyone to feel safe no matter where they are, so we hope these workshops will address the questions and issues we all have as we’re dealing with this,” says Hanlin. “As for Roboto, hopefully other people will look at us and think, ‘They’re the place that did those PAAR workshops, they don’t tolerate sexual assault or violence there.'”
Roboto is a cooperatively run show space and art gallery in Bloomfield. It’s long been a staple of the underground music scene, giving musicians an affordable venue to be seen and heard.
For Roboto’s board, the responses it received about safety at the space were eye-opening. While there were also positive responses, the negative comments ranged from general statements about the kind of people visiting the space, to direct accusations against musicians.
“We got about 70 responses to the survey, and they were just littered with rape allegations and accusations,” says Laura Krizner, Roboto’s treasurer. “It’s a very big issue, and it’s very difficult to try to understand how to handle it.”
Wrote one survey respondent: “The girls, I’m told, are too afraid to come to shows because [offenders] might be there and are too afraid to speak out because they are such prominent members of the scene and ‘don’t want to cause any problems.'”
Another wrote: “Rapists and abusers are glorified there. I sometimes avoid going there because I know [abusers] are glorified there as punk and feminist icons. I will never feel safe at Roboto if they are welcome there.”
The responses spurred conversation, and the board invited PAAR to two of its meetings to talk about the issue further.
“We started talking about the pervasiveness of sexual violence within the music scene and how it’s been addressed with people basically pretending it doesn’t exist and not giving any support to survivors,” says Krizner.
Sexual violence is a wide-ranging issue that impacts children and adults in all age groups. It’s defined as a sexual act committed against someone without that person’s consent. In America, a person is sexually assaulted every 107 seconds, according to the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, an advocacy group.
“It’s completely unacceptable, so this is something we’ve been addressing because we can’t just sit and do nothing about it,” says Krizner.
PAAR is one of the oldest rape-crisis centers in the United States. It provides a 24/7 crisis hotline, and individual and group counseling, as well as prevention and outreach in local schools, universities and community groups. According to its annual report, last year the group helped more than 3,000 victims of sexual violence.
PAAR officials say the problem of sexual assault isn’t specific to Roboto or even the music scene, but the board’s response to the problem is unique.
“I think it would be great if more organizations did similar things [to] Roboto,” says Julie Evans, PAAR’s director of crisis and prevention services. “That tends to signal that that kind of behavior will not be tolerated and that people aren’t going to look the other way and pretend it didn’t happen.”
The four-part series will be held weekly beginning April 12 and concluding May 17. Topics will include information on PAAR’s services and training on how to intervene in situations where there is a risk of sexual violence.
“We’re talking about giving people an understanding of what is sexual violence and what is sexual assault and what people can do to make a social change,” says Evans.
Evans says the workshop will be an abbreviated version of PAAR’s 40-hour sexual-assault counselor training. It will include information on how to help survivors of sexual violence.
“Once the music scene around Roboto starts to talk about sexual violence and prevention, more people will start to come forward to share their stories, so we want to make sure Roboto knows how to respond to a survivor who discloses,” Evans says. “I think really the best thing to do is to work on creating a safe space, because not all offenders go to jail, not all offenders are caught.”
The issue is all too familiar for one Roboto regular who spoke to City Paper on the condition of anonymity (CP does not release the names of victims of alleged sexual assault). She says she was sexually assaulted by a prominent local performer seven years ago.
“I think any time a person of power is accused of things like this, it’s a lot more common for people to push it under the rug and make excuses for it, like, ‘I’m sure he’s not a great person, but I really like that band,'” she says.
Though the incident was not tied to Roboto, she says these problems are prevalent in Pittsburgh’s entertainment scene. And in a close-knit city like Pittsburgh, running into the person who assaulted you can become a traumatizing and all-too-regular occurrence.
“What this person [did] is disgusting and vulgar and wrong,” she says. “It’s very frustrating when you see them gain notoriety.”
She applauds Roboto for taking a stand on the issue.
“Roboto heralds itself as a safe space,” she says. “So it would be wrong for Roboto just to pretend it didn’t happen in their community. It’s important to acknowledge and face this head-on and not pretend that their community isn’t affected by it.”
Roboto treasurer Krizner, another survivor of sexual violence, hopes the workshop will help create a community and space where survivors feel comfortable sharing their stories.
“We are shamed, we are guilted, we are hidden and we are encouraged to stay hidden. And the more you talk about what happened to you, the more strength you have,” Krizner says. “So what we’re trying to do is create a supportive community of survivors, because it just fucks you up and talking to other people and getting that support is fundamental.”
This article appears in Apr 8-14, 2015.
Interesting how roboto still has the person who most of the survey answers were about as a board member and they have several shows lined up for the next 3 months. This is a cover up to not have to out the abusers whom they have in charge.
That individual is no longer on the board.
They still have several shows booked for the next few months according to your calendar. They’re still essentially paying your bills.