Oireachtas Committee told of 'climate of fear' in arts sector
An Oireachtas committee has been told there is a "climate of fear" in the arts in Ireland with people afraid of losing work or facing legal action if they speak out about issues of discrimination and sexual harassment.
Jessica Traynor of SAOI - Safe Arts of Ireland - was speaking at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media.
She said in other workplaces, if a person feels inappropriate sexual advances have been made or they are being harassed or discriminated against, there is a HR system through which complaints can be made, but no such structure exists for freelance artists.
Speaking about the comedy sector, Ciara Lynch of SAOI said female comedians are treated as 'other' or seen as alternative or that they don’t fit in.
https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2022/0216/1281246-arts-sector-harassment/