Entertainment

More than half of TV industry employees experienced sexual misconduct – report

The report came from a joint Edinburgh International TV Festival and Channel 5 News investigation.
The report came from a joint Edinburgh International TV Festival and Channel 5 News investigation. The report came from a joint Edinburgh International TV Festival and Channel 5 News investigation.

Bullying and sexual harassment is prevalent across the TV industry, a report has found.

More than half of people surveyed, from producers to commissioners, had experienced sexual misconduct in the workplace, a joint Edinburgh International TV Festival (EITF) and Channel 5 News investigation revealed.

Of 315 respondents, more than two-thirds said they had been bullied in the workplace – the majority of whom did not report it as they feared for negative repercussions on their career.

Coming after revelations of harassment across Hollywood and politics, the survey was aimed at understand the prevalence of bullying and harassment within TV.

The majority of those who had suffered harassment reported it had occurred within the last five years.

It also found freelancers who had been bullied or harassed often stayed silent because “today’s bully is tomorrow’s boss”, according to one respondent.

EITF’s director, Lisa Campbell, warned “nothing is being done” to prevent those working behind the scenes from suffering at the hands of abusers.

She added: “We need to make a change, and talking about these issues is the first step to addressing and stopping them for good.”

The report found:

– The majority of those who had suffered harassment reported it had occurred within the last five years.

– 84% of those who had experienced sexual harassment did not report it.

– Less than half of those surveyed, 47%, understood their rights in respect of taking action at work if confronted with bullying or sexual harassment.

The study’s findings were launched at a EITF panel discussion where 5 News presenter Sian Williams labelled it “shocking”.

Former High Court judge Dame Janet Smith – who led the Jimmy Savile inquiry – said she was “not surprised” by the results.

Dame Janet added a major problem was the “culture of fear” which exists across the media world as well as a lack of job security.