Disponible en español aquí

In October 2017 two articles published in the New York Times on Harvey Weinstein’s conduct towards numerous actresses attracted an unprecedented attention to sexual harassment around the world. The subsequent #metoo campaign swept through twitter and facebook and already in October 2017 it had reached 85 different countries and more than 1.7m tweets and millions of facebook posts. This lead to government agencies and organisations around the world to review their policies on gender equality and sexual harassment.

Little known fact at the time was that ‘metoo’ (sans hashtag) had already existed for ten years as a grassroots movement recognising sexual assault survivors in underprivileged communities and harassment suffered by minority women. The attention given to Harvey Weinstein’s victims brought to light what millions of women and men have experienced in their work places around the world. Several countries have norms or legal frameworks but it is estimated that 424 million working-age women – including 235 million currently in the workforce – lack legal protection against sexual harassment at work.

In May 2017 IFACCA’s Head of Research Annamari Laaksonen presented in a workshop on ‘Gender and Cultural Policies’ at the United Cities and Local Governments 2nd Culture Summit: Commitment and Actions for Culture in Sustainable Cities’. The IFACCA presentation focused on the analysis of cultural policy news, recent cultural policy studies, gender equality guidelines in IFACCA member organisations and representation of women in cultural policy decision-making (both in the planning and receiving end of policies). The presenters and the audience – including the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights Karima Bennoune – agreed that (the lack of) gender equality is one of the most pressing themes in cultural policies as well as in arts and culture practice. Karima Bennoune’s report in 2017 shows that religious fundamentalism and cultural conservatism affect women’s rights, including cultural rights and the women’s right to take part in political, social and cultural life.

IFACCA has been collecting cultural policy news and resources since 2001. Initially a small database of articles related to IFACCA D’Art reports, the IFACCA database has expanded to more than 45,000 resources from the cultural policy spectrum currently collected under 49 different categories. Until October 2017 ‘gender’ was one of the least covered topics in cultural policy news only slightly above ‘older people’. Sexual harassment in the arts has scarcely been covered in our news topic. Since October the ugly truth is out and arts and culture is one of the sectors dealing with reports of harassment, misconduct and discrimination. Sexual harassment in the arts has even gained its own hashtag, #notSurprised used by more than 7,000 artists around the world.   

The Women Make Music report from 2017 reveals that 78% of women in music have experienced sexism. In November, 456 Swedish theatre actors shared their stories on sexual harassment in theatre. In Spain, 1,000 actresses signed a manifesto revealing sexual harassment in their profession. Laetitia Ky, an artist from Ivory Coast made a powerful #metoo statement using her hair. Abuse, bullying and harassment in the arts and culture sector are being reported in several countries including Ireland, United Kingdom, Norway, Nigeria, Finland, Canada, Australia, Uganda, Japan, to name a few.

Sexual harassment is a pressing problem in arts and culture but the problem has long roots covering abuse of power and discrimination. Cultural policy news and studies show the constant problem of representation and visibility. Women consume cultural goods and services more than men (men consume and attend sports events more than women) but women’s role as featured artists, professionals in decision-making processes and producers is unbalanced. The film industry is one of the most prolific examples. According to a recent study, between 2007 and 2016 in the US, only 4% of directors were female and 80% of them got the chance to make only one film. In 2016, only 27% of the dialogue in the year’s biggest movies were spoken by women. But the underrepresentation of women expands to other disciplines as well. In the Venice Biennale in 2016, 35% of the participating artists were women. Only 14% of the literary awards in Spain go to women. In November 2017, 42 Colombian female authors signed a manifesto to protest the exclusion of female authors in the showcase of Colombian literature in Paris. Guerrilla Girls – a group of female artists fighting sexism and racism within the arts world – present disturbing facts on the unbalance between the number of works by female artists featured in museums and the use of naked female body as an artefact.

Not surprisingly as full-time working arts professionals, women earn less than the men doing the same level of work. In several countries (Australia, UK) it is reported that the salary gap in the arts sector is greater than in any other sectors. In visual arts only five women made the list of the top 100 artists by cumulative action value between 2011-2016 and art made by women sells almost 50% less. Female authors are less visible in literature, less employed as architects and have less to say in the music industry. Author of Harry Potter-series J.K.Rowling recognised that she used only her initials at the beginning of her career being aware that boys would not be inclined to read books written by women.

The OECD recognises that gender equality should be at the heart of all policies, including cultural policies. Women often have a decisive role in the society and in preserving art and cultural traditions, be that – preserving musical heritage (Cambodia), Indigenous women’s use of cultural traditions for community development (Bolivia), women in leadership positions (New Zealand),  #metoo movement sending shock waves through Swedish society, the African female writers everyone should read, or being inspiring role models as in Afro descendants in Latin America. There are many positive initiatives taken but the journey to gender equality has a long road ahead. Women – and men – in the arts are speaking up and we are encouraged to believe that this will lead to lasting positive change.