94 percent of women in Hollywood have experienced sexual harassment or assault, survey says
94 percent of women in Hollywood have experienced some form of sexual harassment or assault, according to a new survey by USA Today.
For the survey, conducted in association with The Creative Coalition and Women in Film and Television, USA Today asked 843 women (a self-selected sample of the two organizations’ collective membership) in a variety of positions in Hollywood about their experience with sexual misconduct in the workplace.
The most common behavior described was “unwelcome sexual comments, jokes or gestures to or about you,” which was experienced by 87 percent of respondents. More than half (64 percent) said they have been propositioned for a sexual relationship, 69 percent said they have been touched in a sexual way and 21 percent said they were forced to perform a sexual act.
Only one in four of the women said they reported the inappropriate behavior, and even fewer said their work situation improved as a result.
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Interpretations of the survey’s results as they apply to the industry as a whole or to the broader population are limited due to its methodology, but the survey does show that harassment and assault are pervasive problems within Hollywood.
“It happens so frequently that it’s just the functioning normal,” an unnamed female camera operator told USA Today. “For me, this includes everything from misogynistic or sexual comments made over a headset while working, to blatant grabbing to comments about my body. I’ve spent the last 20 years accepting it as the price of doing business in a ‘man’s job.’ “
“My boss took me to dinner to apologize for being incredibly insulting,” said a producer in her early 60s. “After dinner he told me to come back to the studio but instead took me to his apartment (that was behind the studio). He then asked me to give him (oral sex). I refused. To which he said, ‘Why do you think I took you to dinner?’ “
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