Amyl and the Sniffers have shared a message telling fans who don’t respect others’ space not to come to their shows, and urging others to call out incidents of sexism when they see it.

“At the start of every live show I say, ‘Don’t touch anyone who doesn’t want to be touched,” reads the note, posted on the band’s Instagram Stories. “If you can’t hear that or learn that, then don’t come to our fucking shows. We are obviously here to celebrate female [and non-binary] empowerment, so if you are not down with that, again, don’t come to our fucking shows.”

The band goes to acknowledge it’s “crazy” they have to share the message at all, but are doing so after hearing “some accounts of sexual assault at our shows” on their recent tour dates in the US, UK and Europe.

One such incident reportedly took place during a performance of ‘Knifey’, a track from latest album ‘Comfort To Me’ that frontwoman Amy Taylor wrote about women’s right to feel safe walking home alone at night. “Out comes the night, out comes my knifey / This is how we get home nicely,” Taylor sings on the song’s refrain.

“If this has happened to you I’m so sorry and it’s unacceptable,” the band said of the reports of sexual assault. “That shit ruins music for people. If you see sexism in the crowd call it out. Look after each other. The rest of the audience will have your back and we will have your back too.”

This week, Amyl and the Sniffers will kick off a tour in their home country of Australia in support of ‘Comfort To Me’, including an appearance at the Splendour in the Grass festival. In September, they’ll return to North America for a run of several headlining shows, as well as appearing at Los Angeles’ first edition of Primavera Sound.