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Upon being questioned about the most punk thing she's ever accomplished, Cathy Loughead responds instantly: “I took the stage with my neck injured in two locations. Unable to bounce, so I decorated the brace instead. That show was incredible.”

Loughead belongs to a growing wave of women reinventing punk culture. While a upcoming television drama spotlighting female punk airs this Sunday, it echoes a movement already flourishing well past the screen.

The Spark in Leicester

This drive is felt most strongly in Leicester, where a recent initiative – now called the Riotous Collective – sparked the movement. Loughead was there from the start.

“When we started, there weren't any all-women garage punk bands here. By the following year, there were seven. Today there are twenty – and growing,” she stated. “Collective branches operate across the UK and internationally, from Finland to Australia, producing music, performing live, featured in festival lineups.”

This explosion doesn't stop at Leicester. Throughout Britain, women are taking back punk – and altering the landscape of live music in the process.

Breathing Life into Venues

“Numerous music spots throughout Britain thriving because of women punk bands,” said Loughead. “The same goes for practice spaces, music instruction and mentoring, production spaces. The reason is women are occupying these positions now.”

They're also changing who shows up. “Female-fronted groups are playing every week. They're bringing in broader crowd mixes – ones that see these spaces as secure, as intended for them,” she remarked.

A Movement Born of Protest

Carol Reid, programme director at Youth Music, commented that the surge was predictable. “Women have been sold a ideal of fairness. But gender-based violence is at alarming rates, the far right are exploiting females to spread intolerance, and we're manipulated over issues like the menopause. Ladies are resisting – by means of songs.”

Toni Coe-Brooker, from the Music Venue Trust, observes the trend transforming community music environments. “We're seeing varied punk movements and they're integrating with regional music systems, with local spots programming varied acts and establishing protected, more welcoming spaces.”

Gaining Wider Recognition

In the coming weeks, Leicester will host the first Riot Fest, a weekend festival including 25 female-only groups from the UK and Europe. Recently, Decolonise Fest in London honored ethnic minority punk musicians.

The phenomenon is edging into the mainstream. One prominent duo are on their maiden headline tour. The Lambrini Girls's debut album, their album title, charted at sixteenth place in the UK charts this year.

Panic Shack were in the running for the an upcoming music award. Another act won the Northern Ireland Music Prize in last year. Hull-based newcomers Wench played the BBC Introducing stage at Reading Festival.

This represents a trend rooted in resistance. Across a field still dogged by misogyny – where female-only bands remain lacking presence and music spots are closing at crisis levels – female punk bands are creating something radical: a platform.

No Age Limit

Now 79 years old, Viv Peto is proof that punk has no age limit. The Oxford-based washboard player in her band picked up her instrument only recently.

“As an older person, all constraints are gone and I can do what I like,” she declared. One of her recent songs contains the lines: “So shout out, ‘Forget it’/ Now is my chance!/ The stage is mine!/ I'm 79 / And at my absolute best.”

“I adore this wave of older female punks,” she commented. “I didn't get to rebel during my early years, so I'm doing it now. It's fantastic.”

A band member from the Marlinas also noted she couldn't to rebel as a teenager. “It's been important to release these feelings at my current age.”

A performer, who has performed worldwide with different acts, also views it as therapeutic. “It involves expelling anger: going unnoticed in motherhood, as a senior female.”

The Liberation of Performance

That same frustration inspired Dina Gajjar to establish a group. “Standing on stage is a liberation you were unaware you lacked. Women are trained to be obedient. Punk defies this. It's loud, it's flawed. As a result, when bad things happen, I say to myself: ‘I'll write a song about that!’”

However, Abi Masih, a percussionist, remarked the punk lady is all women: “We're just ordinary, working, amazing ladies who like challenging norms,” she commented.

Maura Bite, of the Folkestone band She-Bite, concurred. “Females were the first rebels. We were forced to disrupt to be heard. We continue to! That badassery is in us – it appears primal, elemental. We're a bloody marvel!” she exclaimed.

Breaking Molds

Not every band match the typical image. Julie Ames and Jackie O'Malley, part of The Misfit Sisters, strive to be unpredictable.

“We don't shout about the menopause or curse frequently,” said Ames. O'Malley cut in: “Actually, we include a small rebellious part in each track.” Ames laughed: “Correct. But we like to keep it interesting. Our last track was on the topic of underwear irritation.”