With the Australian music industry finally shining a light on the issue of sexually abusive behaviour in music spaces, spurned by several incidents in the past months and culminating in the recent #FreeToMove campaign, Melbourne’s The Smith Street Band have now added their two cents.

The much-loved punk heroes took to Facebook to share a post by Brooklyn punk group Chumped, who issued a missive calling out sexually abusive and inappropriate behaviour displayed by fans during a recent performance in Austin.

“This is a reminder for anyone going to a show or riding the train or existing in the world that the ONLY body that belongs to you is your own,” the band wrote on their own Facebook page.

“Inappropriately touching someone against their will or using physical/sexual force to intimidate someone of ANY gender identification is molestation and it will not EVER be tolerated at our shows.”

“If you encounter any behavior like this at a show of ours in the future, please do not hesitate to bring it to our attention during (especially during) or after the show,” they continued.

“You should NEVER feel unsafe or violated at a punk show, in fact we do this to deliberately create an environment where people can feel safe and encouraged to express and enjoy themselves while feeling connected to music they love and people they appreciate.”

“Keep your fucking hands to yourself and respect people,” they concluded, and The Smith Street Band couldn’t agree more. “Well said Chumped,” wrote the Melbourne outfit, endorsing the post with a love heard emoticon.

“The same goes for every single Smith Street show,” they continued. “This sort of behaviour bums us out big time, by all means party hard, but if you’re the sort of person who’s bringing this vibe to our (or any) shows, then we’d prefer if you didn’t support our band or come to shows at all!”

The band certainly walk the talk, too. Back in February, footage surfaced of the band calling out a security guard at Sydney’s Metro Theatre who was getting rough with one of their fans.

If you were at the show in Austin last night, I would like to apologize on behalf of several audience members who…

Posted by Chumped on Friday, April 17, 2015

Well said Chumpeds <3 …the same goes for every single Smith Street show. This sort of behaviour bums us out big time,…

Posted by The Smith Street Band on Friday, April 17, 2015

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