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Catalan Study Exposes Widespread Abuse in the Audiovisual Industry

Researchers base the diagnosis on 52 interviews, presenting entrenched abuses as structural rather than isolated incidents.

Overview

  • Dones Visuals and the University of Barcelona released the first intersectional report on violence and inequality across Catalonia’s screen sector.
  • The study describes normalized sexual harassment on male-dominated sets, pushing some women to change specialties or avoid on‑set work to protect themselves.
  • Verbal abuse emerges as the most frequent harm, often tied to machismo and racism, with additional cases linked to LGTBIQA+phobia, ableism, aspectism and ageism.
  • Researchers document three physical assaults: two motivated by LGTBIQA+phobia and one with a racist motive involving a venue director touching a filmmaker’s hair.
  • Systemic barriers exclude disabled and neurodivergent professionals, including film-school requirements reliant on hearing and long shoot schedules incompatible with medication, while segregation and ‘hepeating’ undermine advancement and access to roles.