At the moment we’re seeing a lot of maternity, pregnancy and disability discrimination cases. Photo credit: Shutterstock
MU Deputy General Secretary Naomi Pohl and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Official John Shortell discussed the MU view with Managing Associate at Mischon de Reya law firm Louise Thawley.
What is discrimination?
Louise Thawley explained direct and indirect discrimination, “We all use these terms every day... but the legal definitions don’t always overlap with what we think.”
Direct discrimination is when one person treats another less favourable than they would treat other people because of a protected characteristic.
Indirect discrimination is when one person applies a provision, criterion or practice to another person that is discriminatory in relation to a protected characteristic.
What kinds of discrimination does the MU see the most?
John Shortell answered, “At the moment we’re seeing a lot of maternity, pregnancy and disability discrimination cases. But we help MU members with experiences of every kind of discrimination.”
That includes sexual harassment, which often goes unreported. In fact, MU research shows that 48% of musicians have experienced sexual harassment at work, but only 85% have reported it.
The main reasons for not reporting include workplace culture – countless musicians have been told ‘it’s just banter’ – and fear of losing work. Naomi Pohl added, “There just aren’t the protections in law for freelance workers that there should be.”
Who is protected?
Freelancers like musicians are not always covered by the laws that protect people from sexual harassment at work. That’s why we’re calling on Government to change the law to protect freelancers too.
Third party harassment is also a big issue, 47% of musicians told us they had been harassed by a third party at work. “It used to be covered by the Equality Act,” said John, “but it was taken away a couple of years ago. We want it back – and without any three strikes rule that lets engagers off the hook.”
Drawing the line
Louise described how, “No-one can say for sure if the music industry is better or worse than other industries. But it does present specific challenges that make it harder to draw the line between what is personal and what is work."
The MU has seen examples like musicians being harassed at hotels while on tour, being harassed at dinners with their engagers, asked to dress like Barbie dolls, and more.
No-one should have to experience this sort of behaviour at work. If you do, you can report it to us in confidence at safespace@theMU.org or using our online tool (coming March 2020).
Please note: All future planned panel events with SheSaid.So have been cancelled until further notice. For more updates on the Coronavirus, and gudiance for musicians please see our advice hub.