More than 360 Australian women have taken a powerful stand against sexual harassment and abuse within the local music industry by publishing an open-letter under the hashtag #MeNoMore.
The letter published by The Industry Observer has been signed by performers including Tina Arena, Courtney Barnett, The Preatures’ Isabella Manfredi and Sarah Blasko, plus a long list of managers, label representatives and journalists.
The letter to the Australian music industry calls for “zero tolerance” for sexual harassment and violence and includes a number of anonymous accounts from industry insiders.
“As … stories started breaking around the world, we found ourselves offering strength to our friends and colleagues who had their own stories to share — both publicly and in whispered circles,” the letter reads.
“It’s become clear that the magnitude of #MeToo extends to our own shores and to our own industry.”
It continues: “We are women who work in the Australian music industry. We are artists, musicians, managers, lawyers, booking agents, record label employees, publicists and more.
“We all have our own stories, or know someone who does. We are not whingers or vibe-killers. We are passionate people dedicating our lives to music. In the face of uncountable discrimination, harassment, violence, and the general menace of sexist jargon, we have gritted our teeth and gotten on with the job. But today we say, no more.”
The personal accounts are heartbreaking and all too familiar.
“A well-known music manager who has a wife and kids would constantly insist that I have sex with him. When I finally stood my ground, he stopped working with me and stopped talking to me,” one person writes.
Another shares: “After meeting at a festival, I was sent an unsolicited dick pic by a CEO even after declining his offer to come back to his office that was “very dark, had booze and cocaine”.
The open letter was inspired by the powerful #MeToo social media campaign, in which women in Hollywood—and across the world—shared their experiences with sexual harassment and assault.
You can read the #meNOmore letter in full here.
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