Introduction : A Comprehensive Understanding of Gender-Based Violence in Artistic and Cultural Worlds

Abstract

In October 2017, dozens of women made accusations of sexual violence against the cinema producer Harvey Weinstein. Shortly after, upon the invitation of Alyssa Milano, thousands of women shared their experiences of gender-based violence on social media under the hashtag #MeToo, using the name of the movement against sexual violence experienced by women of colour founded by the African American activist Tarana Burke. In many locations all over the world, the past eight years have been marked by numerous denunciations of cases of sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape, mainly committed by men against women, in a large range of artistic and cultural work and education contexts. Gender-based violence affects all kinds of artistic and cultural workplaces and educational institutions across many countries, which suggests that they are neither isolated incidents nor the consequences of a few individual deviant men. Instead, it reveals the systemic character of gender-based violence in artistic and cultural worlds. However, while gender inequalities in art worlds are well documented by academic research, the identification and explanation of gender-based violence in artistic and cultural sectors remain underexplored. Based on ambitious case studies in several art and cultural domains—opera, popular and electronic music, visual arts, screen industries, photography, and theatre—and across a wide range of countries—Finland, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—this book aims to fill this gap. In this introductory chapter, we first examine the current state of the art in the analysis of gender inequalities and gender-based violence in artistic and cultural worlds before presenting the key contributions of this book to a comprehensive understanding of gender-based violence in artistic and cultural work and education.