Legacies of #MeToo in the UK film and television industry: A qualitative study of workplace justice mechanisms to address sexual harassment

Abstract

Workplace policy and practice in handling sexual harassment reports has been argued to have substantially shifted since #MeToo. However, within academic discussion on the #MeToo movement, the role of workplace justice mechanisms for preventing and responding to sexual harassment remains under-explored. Understanding the potential and pitfalls of these mechanisms requires hearing the perspectives of those who have attempted to navigate them. Therefore, this article analyses workers' perspectives of employer initiatives to prevent and respond to sexual harassment using a case study of the film and television industry, the sector at the centre of the 2017 #MeToo movement. It draws on analysis of interview data from 18 people working or studying in the UK film and television industry who had experienced and/or spoken up about sexual harassment and violence at work since December 2017. Interviewees' accounts of employer responses to sexual harassment disclosures reveal that action was only taken in a minority of cases, amidst a reliance on informal approaches for addressing this issue. In addition, interviewees described new risks including employees being encouraged to speak out about harassment and abuse but then being punished or victimised by employers when they do so. Furthermore, mechanisms for prevention and response to sexual harassment were still, according to interviewees, lacking in many workplaces.

Overall, amidst ongoing revelations of sexualised abuses of power within the industry, these findings reveal how the renewed focus on sexual harassment since #MeToo continues to shape industry practices and working conditions, even while this progress is contested and uneven.