Over 60% of women in Spain’s film and TV sector have experienced sexual abuse, report finds

Just over 60% of women who participated in a survey about sexual abuse and violence in the Spanish film industry said they had suffered some sort of sexual violence at the workplace.

Of these 81.4% reported verbal harassment; 49,5% reported physical harassment; and 22,3% virtual and/or digital harassment.

The survey of 312 women was conducted by CIMA, the Spanish Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media.

“Sexual violence includes different types of violence, from verbal harassment all the way to sexual assault,” said Almudena Carracedo, CIMA board member and the report’s coordinator.

The report specifies all the different types of aggressions that make women “be constantly on guard at work and not believed. The evidence is overwhelming”, said Carracdedo.

The survey spoke to a wide spectrum of women from across the Spanish industry including actors, directors, producers, writers, art directors, sound editors and those working in postproduction,

The specificity of the film industry, said Carracedo, “implies that a lot of labour relationships are often temporary, and that the network of contacts is key. This makes it quite difficult for victims to talk about it and much less go to the police, especially if the aggressor is in a position of power. Furthermore, the ones who speak up are the ones who are labelled and suffer the consequences”. 

Carracedo is an Emmy and Goya winning-documentary filmmaker and producer. She received a Bafta TV award nomination this year for You Are Not Alone: Fighting The Wolfpack (Netflix), about a gang rape that took place during the 2016 San Fermín festival in Spain and sparked protests worldwide.

“The CIMA report is the first to do a rigorous analysis of the industry in Spain with data about the extent of sexual violence,” she said. “It also includes recommendations so we hope it will be a tool, a departing point to figure out how the industry can start dealing with this issue with truly effective measures.”

The aim is to meet up with government and industry representatives to make that possible. Spain’s Equality ministry is already involved as it funded the study, “Ideally talks will also include the culture and work ministries,” said Carracedo. 

The study, carried out by political scientist and feminism and gender specialist Nerea Barjola and Bárbara Tardón, specialist in gender studies, was presented in Madrid on April 25 with the title: After The Silence. The Impact Of Abuse And Sexual Violence Against Women In The Film And Audio-Visual Industry.

Producer Guadalupe Balaguer is the president of CIMA which was founded in 2006. It now has some 1,300 members in the film and TV industry. 

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