An unpleasant experience at the All Points East Festival at Victoria Park, London on May 26 left student Joyce Qiu fuming, and soaked in urine. Photo / Getty
Australian exchange student and Lorde fan Joyce Qiu was enjoying her time in the United Kingdom until she attended a music festival recently.
The 20-year-old from Sydney is part way through six months studying in Leeds when she booked tickets to the All Points East festival in London so she could see her favourite singer Lorde.
While she was standing in the crowd waiting for her to appear on stage though, she suddenly felt a warm sensation on the back of her legs.
Squashed into the tight mosh pit Joyce turned to see a man with his penis in his hand and a pool of urine culminating in her shoes, soaking her denim shorts and suede cardigan. She alleges the man had been pointing his penis at her for several seconds, drenching Joyce and her friend.
After Joyce asked the man what he was doing he jostled his penis back into his pants, later telling his friend that he felt "so relieved". She says the two men demonstrated a disturbing lack of remorse, remaining in the crowd and taking selfies after the incident.
With no intervention from any of the surrounding punters, the Sydneysider stood frozen in the mosh pit, her socks dripping with a stranger's urine.
"I am left repulsed and completely disgusted by such an act, not to mention how harassed and degraded I feel. It could have been anyone in front of him who copped this sickening behaviour and this is not okay," Joyce says.
"I can't help but think that if I was a tall, white male looking very buff and strong would he have peed on me or moved on to someone more vulnerable?," she says.
After rinsing herself with her friend's water bottle, Joyce exited the mosh pit and made a complaint to a festival worker who took down her contact details and captured copies of the photographs Joyce had taken of the perpetrator.
At the welfare tent Joyce was given clean jandals and water to rinse her legs by staff. On the day staff had reassured her that they would inform the police and contact her with the result.
But almost two weeks later, the festival has failed to take any action.
Joyce — has been living in the UK since January. She is completing a semester's exchange at the University of Leeds, in Yorkshire, in the north of England.
After months of study, Joyce decided to travel to London for a short break when she saw that Lorde would be making a star appearance at All Points East, a music festival held in London's Victoria Park. Lorde's addition to the line-up gave Joyce no second thoughts and so buzzing with excitement, she bought a ticket and boarded the two-hour train to London to catch a glimpse of her favourite singer.
She was at the event with fellow exchange student Ana Clara Bandeira, 21, when the incident happened.
The annual All Points East is 10 days of community events, but it's most known for its three-day music festival. This year's event attracted big names like LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Glass Animals, Björk and Beck.
On the Saturday when Joyce and Ana attended the festival, the star line up included Lorde, The xx, Justice, Lykke Li and a selection of British DJs.
When contacted about the assault, a representative of All Points East replied that "all security, welfare and supervisors have been asked and there has been no report of this incident". They did not answer questions put to them about how the festival protects attendees and ensures perpetrators face consequences for incidents of assault.
With little action taken by the police and the organisers of the festival to address the issue, Joyce has taken the matter into her own hands by uploading photographs of the man to her Facebook page. She hopes to uncover the identity of the man and says that her wish is for him "to realise that he's wrong and that he cannot just do that and get away with it".
"Most of my friends said that I should have confronted him and in hindsight I wish I did," she said. "I was overcome by shock and trying to process what happened. I wasn't sure if people would help me if I confronted him. Would they think I'm crazy or trying to stir conflict?
"The only reason I came was for Lorde. I didn't want to let this experience completely destroy my experience with one of my favourite singers," she adds.
Joyce continues to await an outcome from the police and a response from All Points East regarding the incident.
Photographs of the man along with details of the assault have been forwarded to the Metropolitan Police in London.