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When asked about the most punk gesture she's ever done, Cathy Loughead answers without pause: “I played a show with my neck broken in two places. Not able to move freely, so I decorated the brace instead. That was an amazing performance.”

Loughead belongs to a growing wave of women transforming punk culture. Although a new television drama focusing on female punk broadcasts this Sunday, it reflects a movement already flourishing well past the TV.

The Leicester Catalyst

This momentum is most palpable in Leicester, where a recent initiative – presently named the Riotous Collective – sparked the movement. Loughead was there from the start.

“When we started, there were no all-women garage punk bands locally. By the following year, there seven emerged. Today there are twenty – and counting,” she remarked. “Riotous chapters exist across the UK and worldwide, from Finland to Australia, recording, performing live, appearing at festivals.”

This surge doesn't stop at Leicester. Across the UK, women are repossessing punk – and changing the scene of live music in the process.

Revitalizing Music Venues

“Numerous music spots throughout Britain doing well due to women punk bands,” noted Cathy. “The same goes for practice spaces, music instruction and mentoring, studio environments. That's because women are filling these jobs now.”

They're also changing the audience composition. “Bands led by women are gigging regularly. They draw wider audience variety – attendees who consider these spaces as protected, as for them,” she continued.

A Movement Born of Protest

A program director, programme director at Youth Music, commented that the surge was predictable. “Ladies have been given a ideal of fairness. But gender-based violence is at alarming rates, radical factions are exploiting females to peddle hate, and we're gaslit over issues like the menopause. Ladies are resisting – by means of songs.”

Another industry voice, from the Music Venue Trust, observes the trend transforming local music scenes. “There is a noticeable increase in broader punk communities and they're feeding into community music networks, with independent spaces programming varied acts and establishing protected, more welcoming spaces.”

Entering the Mainstream

Soon, Leicester will stage the first Riot Fest, a multi-day celebration showcasing 25 female-only groups from the UK and Europe. In September, a London festival in London showcased ethnic minority punk musicians.

This movement is edging into the mainstream. A leading pair are on their maiden headline tour. Another rising group's initial release, their record name, hit No. 16 in the UK charts lately.

Panic Shack were nominated for the an upcoming music award. A Northern Irish group won the Northern Ireland Music Prize in last year. A band from Hull Wench performed at a notable festival at Reading Festival.

It's a movement rooted in resistance. Across a field still affected by sexism – where all-women acts remain lacking presence and live venues are closing at crisis levels – women-led punk groups are creating something radical: a platform.

Ageless Rebellion

In her late seventies, Viv Peto is testament that punk has no expiration date. The Oxford-based percussionist in horMones punk band picked up her instrument only recently.

“Now I'm old, all constraints are gone and I can do what I like,” she stated. Her latest composition features the refrain: “So scream, ‘Who cares’/ It's my time!/ The stage is mine!/ I am seventy-nine / And in my fucking prime.”

“I adore this wave of elder punk ladies,” she commented. “I didn't get to rebel during my early years, so I'm making up for it now. It's fantastic.”

Another musician from the band also said she hadn't been allowed to rebel as a teenager. “It's been important to finally express myself at this late stage.”

Chrissie Riedhofer, who has toured globally with various bands, also considers it a release. “It's about exorcising frustration: going unnoticed in motherhood, as an older woman.”

The Liberation of Performance

That same frustration motivated Dina Gajjar to form Burnt Sugar. “Standing on stage is a release you didn't know you needed. Females are instructed to be acquiescent. Punk rejects that. It's noisy, it's flawed. As a result, when negative events occur, I think: ‘I'll write a song about that!’”

However, Abi Masih, a percussionist, remarked the punk lady is every woman: “We are simply regular, career-oriented, brilliant women who like challenging norms,” she said.

Maura Bite, of the act She-Bite, concurred. “Women were the original punks. We had to smash things up to gain attention. We continue to! That badassery is in us – it seems timeless, primal. We're a bloody marvel!” she declared.

Breaking Molds

Not all groups conform to expectations. Two musicians, part of The Misfit Sisters, try to keep things unexpected.

“We don't shout about age-related topics or swear much,” said Ames. Her partner added: “Well, we do have a bit of a 'raah' moment in each track.” Julie chuckled: “Correct. But we like to keep it interesting. Our last track was regarding bra discomfort.”