Home #Hwoodtimes Sexual Harassment in Hollywood: The Survey–

Sexual Harassment in Hollywood: The Survey–

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by Dr. Laura Wilhelm, LauraWil Intercultural

Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 10/28/20 – In the three years since the #MeToo movement took flight in the entertainment industry, has bad behavior been curbed in Hollywood?  According to a recent study, the answer is: a little, but not nearly enough.

Actors wear black at last year’s Golden Globe awards in support of women. (Photo: Christopher Polk/NBC)

That’s what the fourth part of an industry-wide survey released by the Hollywood Commission has found.  The survey collected responses from 9,630 people who work or have worked in the entertainment industry.

Survey respondents indicated that gender harassment — demeaning jokes and sexually crude terms or insults based on gender — has been experienced by 62% of males and 67% of females in the past year.  The study also showed that one in ten males and one in five females reported sexual assault in the workplace.

The Hollywood Commission report’s intersectional data on sexual coercion and harassment found that multiracial females reported the highest rate of unwanted sexual attention (47%).  It also found that individuals who identified as bisexual or preferred to self-describe reported notably higher rates of sexual attention (53% and 77%, respectively) than those who identified as heterosexual or gay or lesbian (32% and 37%, respectively).

Multi racial team in equal opportunities company discussing and brainstorming (Getty)

“In each category, participants point to high rates of undesirable conduct that continues despite efforts to curtail it.  The entertainment industry can and must do better,” said Anita Hill, a professor of social policy and gender studies at Brandeis University who chaired the Hollywood Commission.

In 1991 Hill famously came forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.  So now the circle is closing!

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Dr. Laura Wilhelm was born in Philadelphia, PA. In 1988 Laura graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Reed College in Portland, OR with a major in Russian and minor in Classics. She received her doctorate in Russian language and literature with honors from the University of Kansas in 1994. Laura belongs to Dobro Slovo, the national Slavic honor society. She has listings in numerous WHO'S WHO, American Biographical Institute, and International Biographical Centre publications and spoke at ABI/IBC meetings in Washington, DC (2000) and Vancouver, Canada (2002). Since May 2009 Laura has run an award-winning consulting company called LauraWil Intercultural. Laura regularly profiles celebrities and public figures for Indie Entertainment Magazine and Magic Image Hollywood Magazine as well as The Hollywood Times. She was nominated for an EMMA (Exceptional Merit in Media) Award from the National Women's Political Caucus. On behalf of The Hollywood Times, Laura does consulting work for the Television Critics Association Press Tours taking place twice yearly in Pasadena and Beverly Hills.