Industry’s Sexual Harassment Commission Turns Focus To Scope, Mission & Priorities
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Advanced planning is underway for the second meeting of the Anita Hill-led Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Inclusion in the Workplace. “A lot is happening,” a commission source told Deadline, noting that more will be revealed next week.
The next meeting will be to define the commission’s scope, mission and priorities.
The commission was formed last month after an avalanche of sexual harassment and abuse allegations surfaced in the wake of allegations against disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is a form of sexual discrimination, and the Commission will be addressing both. In a statement last month, Hill said that the panel “will be focusing on issues ranging from power disparity, equity and fairness, safety, sexual harassment guidelines, education and training, reporting and enforcement, ongoing research and data collection.”
The commission held its first meeting in December, involving a who’s who of industry leaders. Its “working group” will be made up of delegates they’ve each assigned to handle the day-to-day operations.
The impetus for the commission came from Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who in October called on the industry to create a commission to end the industry’s culture of abuse and harassment. She was joined in forming the commission by Nike Foundation founder and co-chair Maria Eitel, Del Shaw partner Nina Shaw and venture capitalist Freada Kapor Klein. They then invited industry leaders to the December meeting, where they agreed to establish and fund the commission.
“The commission will not seek just one solution but a comprehensive strategy to address the complex and inter-related causes of the problems of parity and power,” Kennedy said in a statement after its founding meeting. “The fact that so many industry leaders – across film, television, music, digital, unions, agencies, ATA, AMPAS, Television Academy and guilds – came together, in one room, to explore solutions speaks to a new era.”
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Deadline
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