TY - JOUR
T1 - Sexual Harassment in the Creative Industries: Tolerance, Culture and the Need for Change
AU - Hennekam, Sophie
AU - Bennett, Dawn
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/7
Y1 - 2017/7
N2 - The economic, social and cultural contributions of the creative industries are essential elements of many societies and their governments' policies. However, there is growing evidence that precarity, competition and lack of regulation within these industries is exacerbating inequalities with respect to gender, race and class. With a focus on gender and sexual harassment among female workers, this study involved 32 in-depth interviews with women working in the Netherlands' creative industries. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Findings suggest that sexual harassment is prevalent, and many women considered it to be part of their occupational culture and career advancement. Four factors influenced this phenomenon: competition for work; industry culture; gendered power relations; and the importance of informal networks. Implications include the need for a climate of non-tolerance, sector-specific research and guidelines, sensitivity training and further work with unions and professional associations to provide worker protection strategies traditionally undertaken by organizations. The article concludes that effective sexual harassment prevention requires action at the individual, educational, sectoral and governmental levels, beginning with public conversations to convey the message that sexual harassment is never acceptable.
AB - The economic, social and cultural contributions of the creative industries are essential elements of many societies and their governments' policies. However, there is growing evidence that precarity, competition and lack of regulation within these industries is exacerbating inequalities with respect to gender, race and class. With a focus on gender and sexual harassment among female workers, this study involved 32 in-depth interviews with women working in the Netherlands' creative industries. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Findings suggest that sexual harassment is prevalent, and many women considered it to be part of their occupational culture and career advancement. Four factors influenced this phenomenon: competition for work; industry culture; gendered power relations; and the importance of informal networks. Implications include the need for a climate of non-tolerance, sector-specific research and guidelines, sensitivity training and further work with unions and professional associations to provide worker protection strategies traditionally undertaken by organizations. The article concludes that effective sexual harassment prevention requires action at the individual, educational, sectoral and governmental levels, beginning with public conversations to convey the message that sexual harassment is never acceptable.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85014745212&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/gwao.12176
DO - 10.1111/gwao.12176
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85014745212
SN - 0968-6673
VL - 24
SP - 417
EP - 434
JO - Gender, Work and Organization
JF - Gender, Work and Organization
IS - 4
ER -