An organization representing women in the screen industry in Atlantic Canada is offering a workshop spurred on by the recent Hollywood movement against sexual assault and harassment in the workplace.
The #MeToo hashtag has been used by people around the world, including celebrities, to speak out about sexual violence. High-profile members of the industry have been publicly implicated and a multi-million dollar legal defence fund for women has been created under the name Time’s Up.
READ: Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, other Hollywood women form anti-harassment coalition
Women In Film and Television Atlantic (WIFT-AT) is offering a workshop in Halifax on Jan. 27 to address the issue. Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley, a registered clinical psychologist, and self-defence instructor Joan Helson will be leading the day-long event.
“The goal is to really create and encourage and support respect and equality in the workplace,” said Jan Miller, the founding chair of WIFT-AT.
“Each person bears that responsibility. If there are some of us that are more confident than others to speak out, then we must do that.”
Miller says the workshop will allow those affected by workplace harassment to share their stories in a safe space and to discuss ways for people to prevent and respond to harassment.
She says the recent movements have shown how widespread of an issue workplace harassment is in the industry, however, the idea for the workshop first came to her while she was at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
“I went out for lunch with a filmmaker who I was mentoring and she told me of two very uncomfortable situations she found herself in, and she honestly didn’t know what to do,” Miller said.
“I was really surprised at the situation. I vowed to her at that lunch (I would) set up a workshop to address this.”
READ MORE: Margaret Atwood defends controversial op-ed unpacking #MeToo movement, feminism
Miller, who works as a consultant in the screen industry, says she has witnessed “significant harassment” in her career. She says she’s written to the boards overseeing the organizations she was working with to bring up the harassment, but “there was no change.”
The inaugural workshop is being offered free of charge because Miller says the organization didn’t want any barriers preventing women from taking part.
As well, this particular workshop is only open to participants who identify as female. Miller says they plan to organize future workshops that will be open to all genders.
“It’s important to influence the thought of men as well,” she said, adding that men are often in the positions of power in the industry.
“Therefore, we need to create workshops that will give them tools to … create safe workspaces.”
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