STATEMENT on #MeToo

As women in the creative industry we have seen first hand the prevalence of the abuse of power by some of the men in this business, misogyny, sexual harassment, assault, abuse.It exists. We have always known it. We have seen it. We have experienced it.  
Especially in the creative businesses, film, tv, advertising, art, animation. We know that usually by saying something, it isn’t the person that is accused that is maligned. It’s the accuser. It’s why we don’t say something. Instead, we’re labelled “difficult to work with”, written up, our accusations shared in full,  it’s discussed internally and not with the police,  we’re packaged out, stories are made up, we’re fired.  Either way we’re sidelined.

It isn’t just the men doing this to women.  It’s also men and women who have been complicit in this. The ones who know what’s happening is wrong and stay silent. The ones who laugh, the ones who see it and say nothing. The ones who say “it’s just how he is”.  The ones who say, “he wouldn’t do that”. They do it. This is not an ally.

We’re seeing that now. We are seeing what it really looks like when this happens. It’s isolation, it’s depression, it’s fear, it’s anxiety, it’s confusion.
This isn’t about policy changes. This is about finding your sense of human. It’s about remembering that this isn’t a business issue. This is a criminal issue. This is most of the time not even something that should be handled by HR. HR works on behalf of the organization.
Their job is to worry about liability & exposure.

We wanted to do something. We all have our own stories. That’s what’s wrong with this. So we aren’t just going to pledge to do everything we can to change this, we’re also going to make a commitment to making sure that we are considering this code of conduct in all of the business we do. Because we are creatives, this includes how we tell women stories, who tells those stories and considering societal impacts of the work we produce.
We stand together as women in this business to put a stake in the ground, to demand more of how businesses, brands, agencies, productions, studios, galleries, etc. deal with what is clearly an epidemic. We have included the following statement/code of conduct/pledge.

We invite you to back it, share it and say you’re willing to be held to the same standards.
This is how we fix it.

If you don’t have a community of women you can trust. This is also our way of saying, you do. We’re here. All of us are here.

We challenge other businesses to follow in our footsteps. 

 

CODE OF CONDUCT

By default, we will treat any and all allegations of misogyny, harassment or assault as true until proven false.

We will not support businesses or organizations who knowingly employ those who abuse power.

We will do our best to protect any accuser from the repercussions of sharing their story.

We will not perpetuate a culture in this business which victim shames, blames or maligns.

We will not continue working relationships in the event any member of our team is uncomfortable due to the behavior of another team member.

We have a mandatory reporting policy. This means when we are made aware of any allegations of sexual misconduct, assault or abuse in the context of business are brought to our attention that a formal investigation will begin immediately with relevant authorities. No business has the authority of experience to investigate criminal matters internally. 

We will provide support, community and anonymity to those who need it. 

We will stand together as women in this business to advocate for increased female leadership, increased presence of creators of colour and equality.

We will review any work we are commissioned to create or are creating to ensure it does not perpetuate these issues. We will not produce work which shows violence against women or children.