This article was republished 8 March 2026 for International Women’s Day to highlight the incredible women of Bylines Network
Stories exposing sexual predators from the media and performing arts are becoming disturbingly frequent news headlines. From Jimmy Saville to Noel Clarke, there seems to be a relentless stream of nightmarish tales in which a famous person, usually a man, is granted unaccountable power over the people around them. You’ll be hard pushed to find anyone who has worked in TV, film, theatre or dance who hasn’t got a story or two to tell, and yet little seems to change. New predator and abuse cases are always arising, and the efforts made by big organisations in the media and performing arts, like the BBC and trade unions, seem unable to bring it under control.
Structural challenges to dealing with abuse and predators
These industries often have heavily saturated workforces, which can have significant negative impacts on workers’ rights. Many workers are on short freelance contracts, and plenty only work a handful of times a year, so knowing what to do when something happens can be difficult to navigate. This is complicated further by the staggering numbers of environments people can work in: theatres, schools, on the street or at a National Trust site, to name just a few. The latest Big Freelancer Survey from Freelancers Make Theatre Work found that 51% of respondents saw no follow-up when negative behaviours such as bullying, harassment and discrimination happened, whether incidents were reported or not.
Additionally, children and young people can work at all levels from entry to expert in quite a few disciplines, something rarely seen in other sectors. Professional children and young people can be at particular risk, especially in work that often involves significant sexualisation of individuals. Finally, characteristics like ambition, sociability, playfulness and adventurousness are highly prized in spaces where pushing boundaries and capturing audience attention is make or break. It’s a heady mix to contend with.
Ego, blacklists, and people-pleasing
There are also good reasons it can be seen as a career killer to raise a complaint against a more successful colleague. While literal blacklists are a myth, issues persist around workers being identified as ‘a problem’ or ‘being difficult’. Reputation is so important to this field that, to this day, the trade union Equity and casting organisation Spotlight will endeavour to protect an actor’s professional name. Personal relationships play a huge role in who does and doesn’t work, well above and beyond the nepotism we all encounter at some point.
People are often working long hours under heavy time and financial pressures. Close physical proximity is common, perhaps working on intimate topics, and it’s all frequently behind closed doors. It’s understandable that employers want to use people they know and trust, and who are well established. Unfortunately it leaves a lot of room for bad behaviour to thrive.
A complicated landscape
When you get to know how these workplaces function, it quickly becomes obvious how the predatory personalities that exist in any population find themselves with plenty of opportunities to take advantage of. A constant push to be pleasant, relaxed, flexible, non-confrontational and willing to do just about anything for the work creates environments these people can thrive in.
What can you do to protect yourself?
- Join a trade union. In the UK trade unions (as opposed to other staff/workers’ organisations) have specific legal status that help them to protect their represented workforces. Unions such as Equity, BECTU and the Musicians’ Union do a huge amount of work ensuring that agreements protect their members and supporting those who have encountered harm in the workplace. But a union is only as strong as its members. If you want them to have power on this issue, you must get involved and be willing to act with them.
- Whatever your experience level, attend classes at multiple training organisations, whether it’s for those initial part-time clubs or for ongoing professional development. It gives you an idea of what current good practice is, what people accept in reality, and what is viewed as odd or wrong. The more you know about what’s going on, the more confident you can be making challenges when needed.
- Talk to your colleagues, both to raise the issues generally and to address specific situations. Just be aware that experience can bring knowledge but also a degree of cynicism. If in doubt, discuss with your union rep or local union officer.
- Most importantly, know your own boundaries and be prepared to stand by them. In the end, workplace change only ever happens when workers say ‘enough is enough’ and refuse to accept what’s happening. Be prepared to walk away, even when you know it might be the only job you get that year, or you think it could be your big break. It’s much easier said than done, but no job is worth your safety or wellbeing.
It IS nice work if you can get it
If you are passionate about media and performing arts work, don’t let these problems scare you off. Most of the time you will find yourself surrounded by like-minded people who just want the work to be the best it can be, and when you ‘find your tribe’ it can be a genuinely joyful experience. Cases like this remind us how important it is to be prepared and make sure we have support in place before we need it.
