NEW YORK – More than 300 top women in Hollywood — from Meryl Streep andJennifer Lawrence to Emma Thompson and Cate Blanchett — unveiled aninitiative Monday to tackle pervasive sexual harassment in workplaces,calling special attention to their “sisters” in less than glamorousblue-collar jobs.
The initiative, dubbed Time’s Up, caps a year in which the Harvey Weinsteinsexual misconduct scandal touched off a deluge of allegations that broughtdown powerful men in entertainment, politics and the media, promptingcompanies, government agencies and even the US federal court system tore-examine harassment policies.
But in an open letter printed in The New York Times, the new initiativelends the star power of its A-list members to the cause of women in lessprominent fields, urging support and respect for farmworkers and otherswhose humble positions leave them vulnerable and voiceless.
“We fervently urge the media covering the disclosures by people inHollywood to spend equal time on the myriad experiences of individualsworking in less glamorized and valorized trades,” the group says in itsfull-page ad.
“To every woman employed in agriculture who has had to fend off unwantedsexual advances from her boss, every housekeeper who has tried to escape anassaultive guest, every janitor trapped nightly in a building with apredatory supervisor, every waitress grabbed by a customer and expected totake it with a smile… we stand with you. We support you.”
– $15 mn goal –
Last month, the head of Ford Motor Company apologized to employees at twofactories in Chicago and promised changes, after a scathing expose by theTimes detailed pervasive harassment and mistreatment of women at the plantsdating back to the 1990s. It was one of the first major mediainvestigations into sexual harassment in blue-collar workplaces.