The increasing number of reports of transgressive behavior in the culture and media sector would only show the tip of the iceberg, the Council for Culture reports in a new report. Hotlines and confidential counselors are not always easy to find and victims are sometimes hesitant to use them.
Prevention
“It is necessary that a good conversation about this starts in every workplace in the culture and media sector,” says the advisory body. The Council advises to focus ‘first and foremost’ on prevention.
Structural support from the government is required to handle the increasing number of reports, the council continues. The Culture Council relies on many conversations with people in the sectors. In this they see that there is a great need for research into and monitoring of transgressive behaviour. A new knowledge center to be set up must provide for this.
‘Unequal power relations’
Cross-border behavior occurs everywhere, but there are specific risk factors in the culture and media sector, the organization writes. For example, physical contact is part of the work in many genres.
The supply of talent is also large, but the number of places where these talents can go is limited. “Casting directors, curators, teachers and artistic directors necessarily act as gatekeepers, which creates an unequal power balance.”
The conversations in the workplace should be about power relations and safety. This should clarify what is desirable and undesirable behaviour. “On the basis of this, concrete agreements can be reached about what is and what is not allowed in specific situations,” says the advisory body.
When sexually transgressive behavior is punishable, lawyer Diantha van Eijsden previously explained:
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