STOCKHOLM • No admission if you are male.

That is the direction Sweden's Statement Festival is taking next year, when it opens its gates to only women.

The initiative comes in the wake of sexual assault and rape cases reported at Sweden's popular music festivals Bravalla and Putte i Parken. Next year's edition of Bravalla has been axed after the authorities received reports of 23 cases of sexual assault plus four of rape this year.

According to Billboard, the women-only idea came from a tweet from comedienne Emma Knyckare, which then gained momentum for a drive on crowd-funding platform Kickstarter to raise money for such an event.

"What do you think about putting together a really cool festival where only non-men are welcome that we'll run until all men have learnt how to behave themselves?" she had written.

More than US$60,000 (S$81,400) has been raised so far, but details about the event - including when it will take place and who will perform - have not been finalised.