Survey: In Hollywood, few believe harassers will be punished

Survey: In Hollywood, few believe harassers will be punished

SeattlePI.com

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Disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein may well spend the rest of his life in prison. But that doesn’t mean workers in Hollywood have faith that other harassers and abusers will be similarly punished.

Instead, three years after the explosive Weinstein scandal launched the #MeToo movement, a survey by the Hollywood Commission, chaired by Anita Hill, finds a strong belief in the industry that sexual harassers will not be held to account.

“Things have improved, but not nearly enough,” Hill said in an interview ahead of the survey’s Tuesday release. “People don't believe their complaints will be taken seriously, they don’t believe that something will happen to people who are found to be harassers. And they DO believe there will be retaliation — whether you’re a victim or a bystander, there’s a belief you will be retaliated against if you complain.”

In other words, as one of the nearly 10,000 respondents to the survey told the commission: “Just because a few famous offenders are being held accountable when reported by the most famous victims, does not mean anything has changed for the rest of us.”

The Hollywood Commission was formed in late 2017, shortly after the allegations against Weinstein rocked the industry and forced a broader societal reckoning against sexual misconduct in the workplace. Hill, a prominent voice against sexual harassment ever since her 1991 accusations against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, was named its chair.

The commission says 9,360 people — women and men, in all levels of entertainment industry jobs — responded to the survey, which was conducted online and anonymously over a three-month period ending in February. This first of five reports focuses on perceptions of accountability, which the commission found especially startling. It also announces a new...

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