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Question: hiya,
i'm a musician from the uk. recently at a gig, an employee of the venue sexually assaulted multiple underage girls. when the owner of the venue was confronted, he put his full support behind the employee. the offender was removed eventually, but was allowed back in quickly and was seen drinking at the bar with the owner.
my friends and I want to boycott this venue, with the goal of putting them out of business or least the assaulter getting fired. after some research i believe the most effective way to do this is to set up a picket of sorts, or to hand out fliers during business hours. however, i am unsure of the legality of this in the UK, especially with recent anti-protest legislation. is there any advice you can give for staying within the bounds of the law? or on how to avoid criminal charges generally?
many thanks,
Bee.
Answer:

Thank you for submitting a question to the Community Toolbox! 

We appreciate you sharing this story with us and reaching out for support. Based on what we know from our experiences in the U.S., it may benefit your group to identify an investigative journalist in the UK to follow-up on what has happened. Some public awareness from a trusted journalist might motivate community action. You should also consider making multiple requests to investigative authorities (police). After that, other options may be to organize coalition efforts to amplify awareness of the issue. We cannot suggest what would be legal within the bounds of UK law, but we can suggest ways to motivate your community into action through the toolbox activities. 

There may be some helpful resources here: /en/not-enough-action

Question Date: Sat, 10/19/2024