More than half of women in the audiovisual sector suffer sexual violence.
A report by the Cima association, based on more than 300 surveys, denounces "the silence of institutions and companies in the sector."
BarcelonaAccording to a report commissioned by the Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media (Cima), more than half of the women working in the Spanish audiovisual industry "have suffered some form of sexual violence in spaces related to the film and audiovisual industry." This is stated After the Silence: Research on the Impact of Sexual Abuse and Violence Against Women in the Film and Audiovisual Industry, the report presented this Thursday in Madrid as part of Cima's professional conferences and directed by political scientist Nerea Barjola and researcher Bárbara Tardón, experts in sexual violence.
The authors of the study have worked there for a year using a mixed methodology: the quantitative data comes from online surveys of 312 Cima members, and the qualitative conclusions come from focus groups, life stories, and interviews with experts. The study indicates that 60.3% of those surveyed between the ages of 20 and 50 have suffered sexual violence in the sector. However, 90% of victims have never reported the violence they received. In fact, only 6.9% of victims reported the incidents to the police or courts; 4.3% reported it to an organization specialized in these cases, and 13.6% reported what happened to a responsible person.
The study attributes the difficulties victims have in reporting to fear, distrust and lack of knowledge of their legal rights: "More than 30% of women who have not reported" do not report because of "insecurity about the steps to follow", 27% "because of fear of being imprisoned for anything". The report also points out that "only 24.4% of those surveyed know the rights enshrined in the law of comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom, known as the law of only yes is yes", while "about 64% are unaware of the existence of protocols to prevent sexual violence in the workplace."
A "system of impunity"
The report's coordinators denounce the existence of a "system of impunity that protects the aggressors," sustained by a "silence from the institutions and companies responsible for the projects" that favors the cover-up of the assaults. In fact, 76.3% of those surveyed believe that "people in positions of power in the film and audiovisual industry frequently or very frequently abuse their authority to commit some form of sexual violence." Regarding the type of violence, 81.4% of those surveyed have suffered verbal harassment, 49.5% have suffered physical harassment, and 22.3% have suffered virtual or digital harassment.
The conclusion of Barjola and Tardón's report is that "the exercise of sexual violence is structurally integrated into the dynamics" of the sector. "There is a naturalization and normalization of sexual violence," Barjola explained, emphasizing that these assaults are part of the workplace "and are associated with a hierarchy." The report presentation took place at the Cineteca Madrid and was attended by the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, and former minister Irene Montero.