The UK has taken a step towards establishing an independent standards body to help tackle bullying and harassment in the entertainment industry.
UK Time’s Up, a charity created in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, revealed it is now in final consultations about the body that has been involved in confidential industry discussions over the past year, including with the government, BAFTA and the British Film Institute. . The first stage of establishing government, as it is known, includes film and television.
At our first meeting in June 2021, participants agreed to provide codes of practice for each subsector; Existing booths and signs have been improved and simplified,” said Caroline Norbery, chief executive of industry lobby group Creative UK, who led the industry negotiation group. “Value commitments were made to develop training and standards to accelerate cultural change. However, we also hear concerns that there are gaps in areas of support and improvement, such as improving the visibility of existing supports, difficulties in monitoring support effectiveness, and the need for ongoing training.”
UK Time’s Up was one of the first to come up with the idea of an independent standards body to investigate complaints and incidents and was developed in collaboration with the law firm Fieldfisher and its partners Jill Greenfield and Sarah Elson. One of the areas of greatest concern was the protection of informal, short-term and off-site contracts.
“This is a historic moment in the creation of a new body for the film and television industry that will ensure a fair trial for whistleblowers and defendants, increase accountability and good faith,” said Heather Rabbts, director of UK Time’s Up. it is a crucial development to eliminate unacceptable behavior in combat and promote safe, respectful and dignified working conditions for all. We all know that while help and advice lines exist, which are undoubtedly very important, fear and mistrust remain in a sector dominated by part-time workers, with little or no employment and access to formal and informal work. Networks, many continue to suffer in silence.
The new Independent Standards Authority is being created in close collaboration with colleagues from the Hollywood Commission created in 2017 to stop discrimination, harassment and violence in the entertainment industry. Many of the organization’s stakeholders will be based in the United States, so the two agencies can work together.
“As an arts charity, BAFTA supports the proposal for a truly independent and credible body with the authority and legal infrastructure to ensure due process for whistleblowers and defendants,” said BAFTA President Krishnendu Majumdar. “We believe that the introduction of independent authority standards is not only welcome for our industries, but also necessary.”
Jennifer Smith, Director of Culture and Inclusion at BFI, added: “We recognize that our staff, who are mostly freelancers, need to be able to report incidents and be confident that the guidelines and policies are applied in practice. Therefore, we welcome the introduction of an independent standards body, a visible and truly independent resource that will be able to investigate allegations of sexual harassment, bullying or intimidation and bring more accountability to our industry.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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