Reports|

By Lars Brandle, Industry Observer | Nearly half of all musicians face sexual harassment while going about their work, a new study has found. And most victims don’t come forward due to their concerns about how their claims could affect their careers.

The U.K.’s Musicians’ Union, which represents more than 30,000 musicians working in all facets of the British music industry, conducted the survey and is now calling on the U.K. Government to introduce legislative protections.

For its investigation, the MU contacted 725 members during a week-long span last month, with 379 respondents identified as female and 336 as male.

The findings are bleak.

Some 85 per cent of victims said they feared taking action over the abuse because of “the culture of the industry” and the ramifications speaking out could have on their careers.

More than 61 per cent of respondents said they felt at risk because they work on a freelance basis. And many affected young artists decide to leave the industry, the MU says.

“We are aware of far too many cases of talented musicians, particularly young or emerging artists, leaving the industry altogether due to sexism, sexual harassment or abuse,” Naomi Pohl, deputy general secretary at the Musicians’ Union.

“Many musicians who have gone public with their story are now being taken to court for defamation – evidence of the situation we’re dealing with.”

Read the whole article here:
https://theindustryobserver.thebrag.com/musicians-sexual-harassment/

[Thank you to Alex Teitz, http://www.femmusic.com, for contributing this article.]

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