Dawn Images

Multifunctional urban space for people in Karachi District 19 has cancelled their Girls Night event indefinitely after artists and staff were “abused” by the crowd, causing humilitation.

The organisers of the event issued a statement on their Instagram story saying, “We are humiliated by the harassment and lashing out that she [the artist] received by our patrons.”

District 19 is known for organising various events and giving opportunities to different talented local and international artists to perform. Located in Korangi, District 19 has hosted several Girls Nights, which are exclusively organised by women for women. Girls Nights are ticket-based events for women to enjoy music in, according to them, “a safe haven”.

According to District 19, they receive the most complaints during and after Girls Nights. “We first adapted this to bring pre-defined playlists to our artists, but eventually realised that’s not fair to our artists as well. We have to give a platform to our artists where they share their music,” they wrote on Instagram. Even while promoting the event on their page, they mentioned that the music selection is left to the Dj’s discretion.

Since the complaints were predominantly about the music, the hosts wrote, “Girl’s Night isn’t just about music and dancing but is all about bringing girls of all backgrounds together, and the music is a reflection of diversity amongst all women and may resonate with various women differently as is the case with ALL clubs and parties around the world, and it’s basic that the music is up to the DJ’s discretion.”

They invited two artists to perform at the last Girls’ Night — DJ Nabihah Iqbal from London and local artist Chiara Dsouza. Images has reached out to both and has yet to get a response.

The organisers said women were “lashing out” due to the DJ’s music choices, which later extended to the staff members as well. “We are open to feedback and value your opinion but lashing out at the Dj, using abusive language is not the way we would like to take that feedback.”

They said that the “crowd trashed the place a lot and wasn’t careful at all about littering, even though this is a very basic thing to be mindful of.”

The District 19 team stated that though they are saddened by the decision, the amount of negative remarks they receive after Girls Night is more than after any other events, such as EDM nights. “We do not tolerate any amount of disrespect to our talent or staff members by anybody. Regular patrons or not. When we talk about providing a ‘safe space,’ we meant for everyone, including our team, staff and especially our artists.”