Stars of British screen including Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Naomie Harris have joined a call to secure funding to support a newly set up independent organisation dedicated to tackling harassment across the creative industries.
They are, Signatories to the Open Letter It calls on companies to pledge funding to the Creative Industries Independent Standards Institute (CIISA), which is due to start operating in 2025. There are 25 signatories in total, including Saltburn director Emerald Fennell, Cara Delevingne, Rebecca Ferguson, Ruth Wilson and Harvey Weinstein’s former assistant Zelda Perkins.
The letter is addressed to the “creative industries” and seeks financial support to help CIISA “finally bring this idea to fruition,” adding: “Many of us in the industry wish there was an objective external body to turn to for advice, mediation and, in extreme circumstances, an external body may be needed to hold people accountable for the bad behaviour and bad habits that sometimes occur on set, on stage and behind the scenes.”
“A single forum of accountability where people can seek help, mediation, dispute resolution advice and other services is essential,” the letter adds.
In a 2023 interview with Variety magazineCIISA chief executive Jen Smith said the organisation would be a self-funded standards authority to “investigate inappropriate behaviour across the creative industries”, including film, TV, theatre and video games. She added: “It’s crucial that we break the cycle of harmful behaviour which is such a big problem across the creative industries. We have a unique proposal, we’re addressing the voids and the gaps.” Smith said CIISA would work with existing organisations, including trade unions and the police, to investigate the report and hand it over to the most appropriate venue for resolution. “If we determine this is potentially criminal behaviour, we will hand it over. [to the police]. “
CIISA already has financial support from major organisations such as Bafta, the BBC, ITV and Sky.
Report by BectuBectu, the UK trade union for creative industry workers, also called for support for CIISA. Bectu said its research found that one in five creative industry workers had experienced serious sexual assault in the workplace, six in 10 had experienced unwanted or inappropriate touching, hugging or kissing, and 85 percent had experienced or witnessed sexual harassment in the workplace.
Bectu’s research also suggested that existing reporting systems are not very helpful, with over 60% choosing not to report incidents due to fears of negative career impacts.
After newsletter promotion
Bectu chief executive Philippa Childs said in a statement: “We’re pleased to see organisations across the industry expressing their support for the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, but this needs to be backed up – this is crucial to ensure the authority moves from the development stage to the operational stage.”
