Six in 10 women in Spain’s film and audiovisual industry have suffered sexual violence, according to a report that calls for urgent action to protect female workers.
The report, from the Association of Women Film-Makers and Audio-Visual Media, found that 60.3% of the women surveyed had been subjected to some form of sexual violence in spaces related to the industries.
Of those who reported being victims of sexual violence, 49.5% said it had involved physical assault and 81.4% said it had been verbal. Nearly a quarter of women (22.3%) who suffered sexual violence said it had taken the form of virtual or digital sexual abuse.
Taken from questionnaire results from 312 women, the figures form the basis of the study called After the Silence: the Impact of Sexual Violence and Abuse Against Women in the Film and Audiovisual Industry.
A parliamentary inquiry in France found this month that sexual violence, harassment and bullying were “systemic, endemic and persistent” in the country’s culture and entertainment industries.
Although sexual violence was prevalent “from casting session to festivals”, the Spanish report detailed an enduring culture of shame and impunity, with 92% of victims not reporting what had happened to them.
“For all the progress that’s being made to raise general and personal awareness of the different forms of sexual violence, there remain important obstacles that demonstrate the difficulty women have in reporting it within the workplace,” the report said.
“Fear of reprisals, shame, revictimisation, a lack of knowledge about reporting mechanisms, and the burden and responsibility placed on women, rather than on abusers within the industry, paves the way for silence and impunity.”
Speaking at the report’s presentation in Madrid on Thursday, one of the authors, the political scientist and feminist researcher Nerea Barjola Ramos, said the “naturalisation and normalisation” of such violence had created a sense of impunity.
“That happens because there’s a structure that generates and protects this violence, from acting schools to production offices,” Barjola said in remarks reported by El País. “There are even narratives in scripts that leave no place for feminism.” Young women, she added, suffered a twofold violence “because of their age but also because of their precarious economic position”.
The report concluded that urgent steps were needed to “reinforce the mechanisms that lead to the disclosure of violence … and to put into effect compulsory and effective measures that guarantee and protect the right of all the female professionals in the sector”.
It suggested special training on sexual violence be offered across the sector and also called for public awareness campaigns and the strengthening of workplace inspections.
