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When asked about the most punk gesture she's ever done, Cathy Loughead answers without pause: “I performed with my neck fractured in two spots. Unable to bounce, so I bedazzled the brace instead. It was a fantastic gig.”

Loughead belongs to a growing wave of women redefining punk culture. While a recent television drama focusing on female punk premieres this Sunday, it reflects a scene already blossoming well past the TV.

The Spark in Leicester

This momentum is most intense in Leicester, where a recent initiative – currently known as the Riotous Collective – lit the fuse. Cathy participated from the outset.

“When we started, there were no all-women garage punk bands locally. Within a year, there seven emerged. Today there are twenty – and growing,” she stated. “There are Riotous groups around the United Kingdom and worldwide, from Finland to Australia, laying down tracks, performing live, taking part in festivals.”

This boom doesn't stop at Leicester. Throughout Britain, women are taking back punk – and altering the scene of live music along the way.

Breathing Life into Venues

“Various performance spaces around the United Kingdom doing well because of women punk bands,” noted Cathy. “So are rehearsal studios, music teaching and coaching, production spaces. This is because women are occupying these positions now.”

Additionally, they are altering the crowd demographics. “Bands led by women are gigging regularly. They attract wider audience variety – attendees who consider these spaces as secure, as belonging to them,” she added.

A Rebellion-Driven Phenomenon

An industry expert, from a music youth organization, stated the growth was expected. “Females have been promised a vision of parity. But gender-based violence is at crisis proportions, extremist groups are using women to spread intolerance, and we're manipulated over topics such as menopause. Ladies are resisting – via music.”

Toni Coe-Brooker, from the Music Venue Trust, sees the movement reshaping regional performance cultures. “We're seeing varied punk movements and they're feeding into regional music systems, with grassroots venues programming varied acts and establishing protected, friendlier places.”

Entering the Mainstream

Later this month, Leicester will present the first Riot Fest, a weekend festival showcasing 25 all-women bands from the UK and Europe. Recently, an inclusive event in London celebrated BIPOC punk artists.

And the scene is gaining mainstream traction. The Nova Twins are on their debut nationwide tour. A fresh act's first record, their record name, reached number sixteen in the UK charts this year.

Panic Shack were shortlisted for the 2025 Welsh Music Prize. Another act won the Northern Ireland Music Prize in 2024. A band from Hull Wench appeared at a major event at Reading Festival.

This is a wave born partly in protest. Across a field still dogged by sexism – where all-women acts remain underrepresented and performance spaces are closing at crisis levels – female punk artists are establishing something bold: space.

No Age Limit

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

“Now I'm old, restrictions have vanished and I can pursue my interests,” she said. Her latest composition includes the chorus: “So scream, ‘Fuck it’/ It's my time!/ This platform is for me!/ At seventy-nine / And in my fucking prime.”

“I love this surge of elder punk ladies,” she commented. “I wasn't allowed to protest in my youth, so I'm doing it now. It's wonderful.”

Another musician from the Marlinas also mentioned she was prevented to rebel as a teenager. “It has been significant to release these feelings at this point in life.”

A performer, who has toured globally with various bands, also sees it as catharsis. “It's a way to vent irritation: being invisible in motherhood, as a senior female.”

The Freedom of Expression

That same frustration led Dina Gajjar to form Burnt Sugar. “Standing on stage is a release you didn't know you needed. Females are instructed to be compliant. Punk defies this. It's raucous, it's flawed. It means, when bad things happen, I say to myself: ‘I should create music from that!’”

However, Abi Masih, a band member, said the punk woman is every woman: “We are typical, working, talented females who like challenging norms,” she explained.

Another voice, of her group She-Bite, shared the sentiment. “Females were the first rebels. We were forced to disrupt to get noticed. We still do! That fierceness is in us – it appears primal, instinctive. We are amazing!” she declared.

Breaking Molds

Not every band conform to expectations. Julie Ames and Jackie O'Malley, from a particular group, try to keep things unexpected.

“We rarely mention the menopause or use profanity often,” noted Julie. The other interjected: “Actually, we include a bit of a 'raah' moment in each track.” Ames laughed: “Correct. But we like to keep it interesting. Our most recent song was on the topic of underwear irritation.”