Published
Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 15:50
- The Misogyny in Music report was published earlier this week.
Women victims of sexual abuse, harassment and bullying in the UK music industry are being silenced with non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), a new report has found.
Published yesterday, January 30th, by the Women and Equalities Committee, the Misogyny in Music report follows an inquiry launched in June 2022. In order to protect the victims, the report doesn't disclose all of its "distressing" evidence. But it does reference written evidence from groups such as Can't Buy My Silence, a campaign founded by Zelda Perkins and Professor Julie Macfarlane after their own experiences. (Perkins broke her NDA to speak out about Harvey Weinstein.)
The campaign's evidence, collated in collaboration with non-profit Speak Out Revolution, found that music is one of the sectors where NDAs are most prevalent. Speak Out Revolution gathered 100 anonymous testimonials over the past two years and found that 45 percent of victims worked in music.
Separately, the Commission published the anonymous account of one woman who said she was given no choice but to "agree to a settlement where I would leave with a glowing reference, or I would be sacked for gross misconduct with immediate effect and no money."
Speaking to Resident Advisor, DJ, producer and University of Portsmouth academic Professor Samantha Parsley, AKA Dovetail, said "NDAs are quite simply, a second violation." Being silenced under duress, she added, is also a form of violence because it "continues the trauma of the physical and emotional assault–yet we still persist in encouraging women to 'speak up' and 'speak out,' knowing the risks they face."
The report urges the UK government to implement legislation banning the misuse of NDAs in cases of sexual abuse, harassment, misconduct and discrimination. It also said that before artists sign anything, they should receive automatic legal advice from a law firm not acting for the other party, and that victims who break an NDA to speak out should be protected from accruing any costs.
In addition to NDAs, the report also made numerous findings on topics such as unequal pay, an unfair focus on physical appearance, non-reporting of sexual abuse and a culture of bullying. Misogyny in music, the report concludes, is endemic.
Read the report in full.
Find out more about NDAs (via Can't Buy My Silence and Acas) and confidentiality agreements in discrimination cases (via Equality and Human Rights Commission).