Wolf Alice say work must be done so #MeToo is “not just a hashtag”

Wolf Alice have spoken on what needs to be done to ensure that #MeToo is “not just a hashtag”.

Last month the band’s vocalist Ellie Rowsell accused Marilyn Manson of filming up her skirt without her consent when they met at a festival. The accusation came after Manson was accused of abuse, grooming and manipulation by actor and ex-partner Evan Rachel Wood and four other women.

In the wake of the accusations, Rowsell said she faced “a lot of trolls” who claimed she’d made her story up “for attention” or insinuated that “it was my fault because I put myself in those situations”.

In a new NME cover feature, Rowsell and her bandmates discussed whether things are getting better for women with regards to sexual abuse. At the time of the alleged incident with Manson ‘upskirting’ wasn’t illegal in the UK, but following campaigns it has since been defined as a criminal offence by the UK government – carrying a punishment of up to two years in jail.

“In some cases [they are getting better],” Rowsell said. “But in some cases, it’s probably going backwards so there’s no one answer to that.”

Discussing what needs to be done in order to move things forward, guitarist Joff Oddie added: “I think stuff like #MeToo’s fantastic as a catalyst and a talking point, but now we need to work out how we shift those cultural norms to make sure that the message is translated to everyone, not just the people who have Twitter accounts and lots of followers.”

“So it’s not just a hashtag,” Rowsell added.

Wolf Alice shared their comeback single ‘The Last Man On Earth’ last month along with details of third album ‘Blue Weekend’, due in June via Dirty Hit.

Last week, they gave a live debut to their new single on the latest episode of Later… with Jools Holland.