Women in music industry forced to sit alongside 'sexual abusers' at award shows
Women in the music industry are forced to sit alongside "sexual abusers" at award shows and face "endemic" misogyny, MPs have warned.
In a report published on Tuesday the Women and Equalities Committee details a "boys club" where sexual harassment and abuse is common. The cross-party MPs said women's lives are being ruined while the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) is creating a "culture of silence" in the multi-billion pound industry.
They warn that despite increases in representation "discrimination and misogyny remain endemic" with female artists "routinely undervalued and undermined".
The Committee also heard evidence from the Musicians' Union which detailed the misogyny faced by musicians-in-training. They described female students being "cat-called in rehearsals" and "made to feel uncomfortable by male lecturers".
They were also told "they couldn't play their instruments properly if they didn't sit with the legs open in orchestra rehearsals". The report concluded: "Women in the music industry have had their lives ruined and their careers destroyed by men who have never faced the consequences of their actions.
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"Much of the evidence we received has had to remain confidential, including commentary on television shows and household names." It added: "People in the industry who attend award shows and parties currently do so sitting alongside sexual abusers who remain protected by the system and by colleagues.
"The music industry has always prided itself on being a vehicle of social change; when it comes to discrimination, and the harassment and sexual abuse of women, it has a lot of work to do."
The report also said that MPs had received "distressing evidence" on the impact of NDAs. It said: "Victims with little agency in the process are threatened into silence by organisations seeking to protect their reputation and the perpetrators of abuse who work for them."
MPs recommended the Government consider a "retrospective moratorium on NDAs" involving sexual abuse, harassment, sexual misconduct or bullying. Committee Chairwoman and Tory MP Caroline Nokes said: "Women’s creative and career potential should not have limits placed upon it by ‘endemic’ misogyny which has persisted for far too long within the music industry.
“Our report rightly focuses on improving protections and reporting mechanisms, and on necessary structural and legislative reforms. However, a shift in the behaviour of men—and it is almost always men - at the heart of the music industry is the transformative change needed for talented women to quite literally have their voices heard and be both recognised and rewarded on equal terms.”
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