RECENTLY, numerous newspapers broke the news of disgraced composer Alex Woolf being found guilty of distributing sexual images without the consent of 15 different victims.

Before we talk in depth about the problems surrounding this case, we must acknowledge classical music has an incredible problem of misogyny and sexual misconduct. Recent examples in Royal Academy of Music, Chethams Music School (a specialist secondary school), Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Royal College of Music, and numerous others show that women and girls (and other at-risk individuals) are being failed or simply under-protected in a place where their only worries should be preparing for recitals, exams, and concerts.

Following the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announcement on August 16, the press release initially pointed out Woolf was a teacher and composer at Cambridge University, namely highlighting another case of a teacher exploiting their position of power against vulnerable women. However, only two days later, on August 18, the CPS removed any reference to his professional positions – ultimately implying he was a lone freelance composer committing abhorrent acts against women.

One victim (who shall be referred to as Miss Z) said “trying to scrub away any reference to Mr Woolf shows the institution is keener to protect their own standing, almost irrespective of the fates of the affected women.”

Alongside this, Cambridge University and Royal Academy of Music have removed reference of the composer from their website, without any announcement or discussion of the reasoning.

The response from other professional organisations who worked with Woolf in a compositional capacity has been varied, with Delphian Records and the Opera Story possibly being the only organisations to directly name the composer whereas the majority of others – including the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society –acknowledged the prosecution but left the perpetrator nameless. Also, some organisations he worked with, like the BBC, Shelter and the English National Opera have yet to acknowledge the case at all.

On Monday August 23 I interviewed Miss Z for more details about this case, and the aftermath of its sentencing. She pointed out: “The biggest impact with the situation, is he [Alex Woolf] had known of my previous assault and abuse – the whole thing feels even more painful knowing someone could exploit that against me.” She added: “I felt like he was targeting me, as I had been the only one deep-faked and whose name and location had been distributed online.”

We had talked about issues of online culture, particularly how everyone is quite so surprised the person in question fell into the “incel” crowd. Miss Z pointed out she was vaguely aware of the incel movement prior to this incident, however the stereotype certainly did not fit a charismatic individual like Woolf. We both agreed that what this particular incident shows is not some basement-dwelling troll, but is an abhorrent weaponisation of misogyny.

This conversation also went onto how websites like Reddit, PornHub and OnlyFans have all failed women either through terrible safeguarding or simply not intervening when they could have. Miss Z went on to say: “I’ve seen more porn on Twitter than I have anywhere else, and I wasn’t even looking for it.”

When discussing how Miss Z felt throughout the process, she highlighted that the fact he was prosecuted at all is incredible in and of itself – many cases of a sexual nature fail to even get investigated – whereas other crimes, such as drug offences, tend to be prosecuted more readily.

Another victim, Miss Y, added that without the tenacity and support from the other women we would not have managed this. Miss Z said that when she first found out, she was initially given false information by police on the 101 number, and it ultimately felt like the system was built to stop women prosecuting.

When it came to the prosecution itself, it often felt like the police were on his side describing him as “remorseful,” which suggested they were just going soft on him, because he was a “nice” guy.

The process was full of mystery and the women did not know who it was until his prosecution in July. Miss Z added that it was probably because there were 15 women involved that the prosecution was successful in upholding justice.

I asked her her thoughts about the industry’s response and the nature of the industry surrounding this process. She initially pointed out, like all industries, there is a reflection of society as a whole – we live in a sexist society, so it will be naive to think an industry can be free of it.

However, she went on to add that it was interesting seeing how institutions responded – highlighting the CPS removing any reference to Cambridge, or how places which hired him (namely the Royal Academy of Music and Cambridge University) have tried to ignore it entirely.

Miss Z emphasised that this case is not just “15 women versus Alex Woolf” but a result of the wider misogyny and commodification of women in our society, adding thet “one wrong’un getting prosecuted doesn’t fix that.”

The sentencing itself shows how women are valued less than criminals, she said, pointing out that Woolf got free therapy, whereas the 15 victims had to pay for their own, and the measly £100 compensation.

Miss Y also said “I am not a psychiatrist, but it strikes me that his [Woolf’s] widespread acclaim played a role... boosting his confidence to not only commit the crimes, but assume he would never feel the repercussions of his actions.”

This case has been quite a reckoning for the classical music world, not least because it is often seen as a much gentler and more liberal place. It is also probably that much more surprising as he was quite the typical Oxbridge, quaint middle-class type.

If classical music and the music industry are genuine about women having something to say and contribute to our culture, these fights must be fought. Who knows how many talented soloists, conductors or orchestral leaders we have lost because a man in power used his position of power to assault or objectify women in this way?

We should not be feeling guilty that a “nice and charismatic boy” turned out to be a wrong’un. We should be fighting with all our strength to make sure this cannot happen again, and if it does those affected by it are given the greatest defence and support to be able to navigate this tumultuous sea.