'Guys got glitter balls, nobody harassed them'

The body artist who painted glitter boobs at the Rhythm and Vines festival said both men and women offered their naked bodies to be painted - but it seemed only women were harassed.

Jolene Guillam-Scott, 22, says the art form was commonplace at music festivals overseas.

At the popular New Year's Eve festival, held in Gisborne, she offered "glitter boobs" on her menu.

A video has gone viral of a 20-year-old topless woman who took her up on the piece of body art only to be grabbed by a male festival-goer.

Footage shows the man running quickly back to his friends, but the woman, Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller, then spins around, races after the man and slaps him in the head four times.

Guillam-Scott specifically offered "glitter boobs" on her price list because she said they're popular at festivals in the US and UK and said both men and women took her up on the offer at the NZ festival.

"There were guys who were like, 'hey, can we get glitter on our balls?'

"One of our girls didn't mind, so we charged them $20. There were guys walking around the festival with glitter on their balls.

"But the guys who got naked were treated so differently."

Guillam-Scott said plenty of people were getting naked at the R18 festival, but it was only women who were getting harassed.

Festival organisers even shelled out $50 each for the first girl and first guy to go down the slides naked.

"It doesn't really matter whether you think it's okay or not for her to have her boobs out like that," Guillam-Scott said.

"Nobody has a right to go up to you and touch you.

"If I was lying down, passed out, naked, does that give someone the right to violate me? No."

Guillam-Scott said she was shocked when she first saw the video circulating on Facebook, but thought the ending was empowering.

She was also proud to see her body paint work viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.

"I think it's awesome what she did.

"I was almost proud, because I think it's empowering for a girl to come and do something like that. It takes a lot of confidence.

"There's no difference between what she was doing and wearing a bikini top.

"I think it's awesome that she went over there and stuck up for herself."

Katie Ashworth, 18, and Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller, 21, who wore glitter body paint at RNV before being assaulted. Photo / supplied.

The video of the incident quickly went viral after being posted on Facebook, but has since been taken down by the social media giant.

Organisers of the Rhythm and Vines festival were disappointed to hear about what had happened.

"We do not condone any form of harassment and take these issues very seriously. We will continue developing our ideas on how to create a safer and more enjoyable environment for our customers."