WOMEN working in the Scottish entertainment sector have circulated a list of “powerful and abusive” men in the industry to avoid.
After Sunshine on Leith actor Kevin Guthrie was jailed for sexual assault, it emerged that the list of men deemed a threat to women has been shared.
Rosie Priest, a theatre producer and arts researcher, said the men on the list are often “protected by the cult of celebrity”.
READ MORE: Sunshine on Leith star Kevin Guthrie jailed for sex attack in Glasgow
“Directors, writers, choreographers, CEOs – they all have this immense amount of power,” she told STV News.
She added that “predators, abusers, bullies can thrive” in the entertainment sector due its “unequal power balances”.
“We know that, unfortunately, one in four women is going to experience sexual violence in their lifetime and that sexual violence isn’t to do with intimacy, it’s to do with power.”
Maureen Beattie (above), an actor across stage and screen in Scotland, formed the Safe Spaces campaign in the wake of the 2017 #MeToo movement.
The aim of the campaign is to give entertainment workers the “confidence to challenge and report inappropriate behaviour”.
READ MORE: Sunshine on Leith star Kevin Guthrie sexually assaulted sleeping woman
She said she wants to see a world where inappropriate and abusive behaviour is “an absolute shock”, rather than something normalised.
“To get to the point where bad behaviour literally took the breath away from you because you were like ‘wow, that’s extraordinary’ is where I’d like to get to,” she said.
Earlier this month Guthrie was jailed for three years after sexually assaulting a 29-year-old woman who appeared unwell after a night out.
Guthrie insisted he had “helped” her – but his DNA was found inside her underwear. He was found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court after denying the charge.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel