The backstory
Last December, #AfterMeToo and The Globe and Mail convened a group of experts to address predatory behavior in show business. At that point, the world was reeling from allegations about Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and many other leading Hollywood figures. In response to a social-media campaign of women sharing their stories of sexual harassment and assault, leading industry experts, legal professionals, psychologists and Globe journalists joined panels, and together drew up recommendations for safer workplaces and stronger measures of protection. These included:
- Establishing an independent industry body that could both investigate harassment complaints and penalize perpetrators by such means as ejecting them from industry associations;
- Establishing a fund, to be paid into by industry members in the manner of a benefit or pension fund, that would pay for mental-health support for victims of harassment;
- Harmonizing policies and reporting mechanisms of existing entertainment-industry unions;
- Providing mandatory training for all members of the industry;
- Expanding the definition of the workplace to include social events and any situation where there is a business relationship;
- Developing online reporting systems so complainants can report and repeat perpetrators can be tracked;
- Calling on governments to provide better access to mental-health supports.
The roundtables
Civil law and sexual misconduct
Actors and performers
Working for organizational change
Women who work behind the camera
Union leaders discuss sexual misconduct
Trauma, memory and the psychological effects of sexual violence
The roles of agents and casting directors
The role of the criminal justice system in cases of sexual misconduct
Barriers to reporting sexual misconduct in the legal system
The final word
Below, watch the full two hours of proceedings of the town hall that concluded #AfterMeToo.
#AfterMeToo Symposium at The Globe and Mail
With a report from Kate Taylor