「お前程度の容姿の女の俳優は腐るほどいる」...。表現の現場で起きる、深刻なハラスメントの実態の英訳 (English translation of article describing harassment experienced in the creative fields in Japan)

今回は今朝見たニュースの記事の英訳をします。ハフポスト日本版からの記事です。英訳版はこちらにもあります：http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14302019

リンク：https://newspass.jp/a/29omk?fbclid=IwAR0AD32_o_eckItLU68qICyjPo-TyRHH3p5EIsXFP1pGomce2MwiIGIg8DY

I felt this was an article worth translating in greater detail. Please comment, like, and if you would like to share my translation, please credit/link to this post.

Survey results conducted by Investigation Team for the Arts regarding the harassment experienced by individuals in the creative fields (art, acting, movies, music industry, and etc.) were released publicly (Google Form survey was also created in English link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexwVI4MSjPpHPiF4SMUtoFz1EFZnDu-WOBHrNOquplWGzgiQ/viewform?fbclid=IwAR2Gmuhg3TOw03M_p55xb8__V44wBtCjDc-FlvgpckuwLZOEP6GGLcEy3kY)

For this survey, 1449 people have responded and over 80% reported that they experienced harassment. Some of the respondents have mentioned that they were coerced into sexual relations and these responses have shown the realities of what's happening in the field of entertainment.

80% has reported experiencing some sort of harassment.

Investigation Team for the Arts is a team comprised of artists and writers. They gathered responses during December 2020 and throughout January 2021. 

The respondents to this survey (1449 people) were artists/in the arts, actors, film makers, journalists, photographers, and others in the entertainment field. 56% are freelancers and that is more than half of the respondents. Most respondents were in their thirties and after that, were in their twenties. 

Out of 1449 people, about 80% (1195) have responded that they experienced some form of harassment during these past ten years. About 90% (1298) have responded that they experienced some sort of power harassment. 

*charts are in the article*
Power Harassment (overall)
- Experienced emotional/mental harassment such as abusive words, given crude treatment, and being ignored (1021 respondents)
- Made me concerned about the safety of my own finances/work conditions (878 respondents)
-Other, experienced words/expressions that utilized the power of their position (793 respondents)
-Received severe criticism that crossed the line (769 respondents)
-Forced to do unjust work (726 respondents)
-Spread low evaluation (459 respondents)
-Forced to participate in drinking parties and events (409 respondents)
-Threatened that I would 'lose my job' (402 respondents)
-Opportunities for presentation were forcibly taken away (317 respondents)
-Forced to do one-shot/stunts at the party (147 respondents)

Sexual Harassment (overall)
-Mentioning of appearance and/or age (919 respondents)
-Forced to listen to sexual jokes (823 respondents)
-Asked about private details about sex life (610 respondents)
-Forcibly touched (503 respondents)
-My private information/past was searched (465 respondents)
 -Sexual rumors were spread (261 respondents)
-Forced to watch films with sexual themes and also, without consent (133 respondents)
-Non-consensual sexual relationships (129 respondents)
-Other, been on the receiving end of sexually explicit comments (133 respondents)
-Victim of sexual harassment by being told this was for the art/direction of the production (121 respondents)

As this survey is a form of snowball sampling (recruited acquaintances to answer the survey), it is not an indicator of the industry as a whole.

Chiki Ogiue (critic), one of the survey respondents, commented, "These numbers used in this survey are simply used for reference. But at the same time, snowball helps us see results we wouldn't have gathered through regular sampling. These results can give us hints on the root of these issues in these clusters." 

"There's countless female actors that look like you", "received physical abuse"... revelations of victims experiences. There were many comments received in the survey.

The contents in the survey are listed in the link here (https://8b020f78-c6f6-4a3d-9e37-5166a73ea5c3.filesusr.com/ugd/c3e77a_e2f4031d48be431db94b844a5e25f1c4.pdf) and it is well over 160 pages. Many of the harassments that are listed are related to abusing power and it was more women then men, experiencing these harassments. There were cases from being 'forcibly touched' to being raped.

Here are some of the experiences.

Harassment in the Art Industry
-In my twenties, an older gentlemen who came to the exhibition told me, "I want you to be my mistress." I refused but he continuously contacted me through social media and I felt very uncomfortable (Illustrator in her thirties).

-He kept staying at the event location and spoke to me one-sidedly for over two hours. He did not buy anything and mentioned, "I'm so glad I was finally able to speak to a woman ♪"  (Artist in her thirties).

-While I was overseas for work, the gallery owner contacted me during the night to come to their hotel room (Gallery staff in her twenties).

-In my twenties, the teacher I was studying under asked me to let me take my nude photos. It wasn't forced but I was worried about how I would be perceived and treated. So I couldn't talk to anyone and allowed the teacher to take my nude photos (Artist in her thirties).

Harassment in the Film Industry
-I was punched/kicked and that was recorded and used for a movie. I was afraid it'll affect the film/release date so I couldn't say anything. Even now, there is that power imbalance (power hierarchy, length of work hours, have to listen to those above you) and those who continue to harass others are the only ones who can survive in this industry and be promoted. Also due to these work conditions makes it difficult to establish a career (Man in their thirties, part of the film industry).

-For a filming, I was forced to go into the river during mid-winter. When the other actor who also went into the river fainted, I was asked to take responsibility. They mentioned that "it was your fault that they fainted." (Man in their twenties, part of the film industry).

-Amongst the world of film, there is a weird expectation that, 'women are not talented but men are'. Oftentimes, women are assumed/pressured to get work through sexual means. In my twenties, I wasn't able to win competitions due to reasons such as, '____ is a guy so we want to give him the credit.' As a result, I often had to clench my teeth through these situations (Director in her thirties).

Harassment in the Theatre Industry
-Even though there were no mention of sexual contents in the direction/screenplay, the leader of the theatre group forced me to listen to indecent topics on the name of 'needing it for acting'. They also said that, "You're supposed to have sex, you're defected as a human being if you're unable to have sex" (Actor in her thirties).

-Young actresses have asked me for advice as they were pressured by the director to sleep with them on the basis of, 'improving ones performance' (Actor in her thirties). 

-During training, I was told that I was "mentally ill" and that "you can never be a director." And at the wrap up party, all the fellow actors from my year were pressured to say terrible things about me (Actor in his twenties).

-I was severely criticized by the director and I have no memories during that period (Actor in his forties). 

-The director of the theater troupe during my twenties told me that there are so many actresses who look like you so you are easily replaceable (Actor in her thirties).

Harassment in the Music Industry
-When I perform at the live events, there are women audience members, touching me inappropriately. Since they are audience members, I am unable to say anything (Musician in his thirties).

-I was forced to accept inappropriate outfits and gifts on the name of concert gifts from a male audience member. He force upon me show tickets and expect for me to go with him. I filed a complaint to the management of the concert and have prevented him from entering the venue again. I have also blocked his social media (Woman music student in their twenties).

-The PR representative asked me, "What is a body part you're able to sell to others and are you prepared to be a mistress?" The representative also tried to invite me to a hotel in the name of training and told me that having sexual relations is the best way to understand each other (Woman in their twenties, part of music industry).

Harassment in the Photography Industry
-When I agreed to be a model for a photoshoot, I was threatened by being told, "If it doesn't become beautiful, it won't be a work of art" and forced to not only remove my clothes but forcibly touched (Actor in her thirties).

-They wanted me to be a model for their photoshoot and I couldn't refuse. I was forced to take nudes (Woman in her thirties, film staff).

-I'm a freelance photographer in my twenties but my work contract is often not accepted and my payment is not clarified. This resulted to not being paid multiple times and that led me to depression. I realized through this survey that these situations were not right (Photographer in her twenties). 

-In work gatherings, men are pressured to be naked and only wearing underwear and women are pressured and expected to serve while only wearing underwear. We were told, "Those who work at studios such as yourselves can only gain laughter through being naked and drinking alcohol." Even if we were to talk about these situations, we were told, "Don't photographers become photographers by building their grit through these methods?" (Photographer in his thirties).

Harassment in the Field of Design/Architecture
-Few months after being hired, transportation fee started being included in my salary, there no designated time to leave work, leaving work at the last train almost everyday, salary was low, and when I mentioned I wanted to quit, I was told, "Pay back the time and money we spent on you" (Design company staff in her twenties).

-I was verbally harassed by being told that if I want to continue working in this field, I shouldn't be in a relationship or get married. If I were to decide to do so, that showed my lack of dedication towards the work and was told to quit my job (Graphic designer in her thirties).

-Hearing seniors in the workplace making sexual jokes as well as making jokes regarding sexuality towards their juniors. When I said something about those remarks, I was asked whether I was gay (Designer who is a transgender person in their thirties).

-A past client touched me inappropriately. Eventually, they completely stopped contacting me, business partnership was cut off one-sidedly, and they spread false rumors about me within the industry. This has caused me to lose certain jobs (Graphic designer in her thirties).

-During my freelancing days, clients would refuse to pay me, verbally harass me, and threaten me (Designer in her thirties).

Harassment in the field of Literature and Journalism 
-When it's a woman who interviews male artists, the artist's attitude and word choices completely change.  I was very uncomfortable being asked who I am dating and other aspects about my personal life (Editor in her thirties). 

-I receive comments about my appearance by an editor of a literary magazine. They mentioned, "Female writers won't sell well if they're fat" (Writer in her twenties). 

-When I meet this male editor during a work meeting, he would make comments about my looks and outfit and that made me very uncomfortable. He looked at the female photographer that was introduced to him and when she wasn't around, he said, "Oh, is she (used derogatory term for lesbians)?" This was when I was starting my career. I couldn't say anything back then but it severely angers me even when I think about it now (Writer/editor in her twenties).

Harassment in the Manga and Illustration Industry
-Editors have told me, "You're a guy so you should work harder." and "Aren't you embarrassed you lost to a woman?" (Manga writer in his thirties)

-The editor looks down upon my submitted work and continually berates me. Even when I complained that these power harassment and moral harassment comments have made me ill, they worried about how they would be perceived and told me to hide my issues. Due to delays in my work due to health issues, I was threatened my income will be lowered and that I would need to continue following the assigned schedule (Manga writer in their forties *sex was omitted*). 

-If they only include good manga in the magazine, only women will have their work published so they need to put men's work in it as well is what I was told. That put fear into stability of works being published in the future and at parties, me and other young women manga writers, we were forced to sit next to men manga writers and serve them alcohol (Manga writer in her thirties). 

-As I write adult manga, I get assumed by clients that they could openly talk about sexual things even in private. So I've experienced situations where I'm forced to participate in conversations about sexual topics that wouldn't be discussed with those I barely know (Manga writer in her thirties).

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"Harassment continues to happen often but also, continues to be hidden"

This survey brought these extreme cases of harassments that occur in the field of creative arts. The Investigation Team of the Arts is a group that was established in order to "change the environment that continues to foster harassment". 

During 3/24 press conference, one of the Investigation Team of the Arts members, Honmaeri from art unit KYN-CHOME expressed, "Harassment continues to happen often but also, continues to be hidden." and "I would like to continue updating on the field of creative arts". 

"What's important is that we each understand what is harassment and open their eyes towards harassment and prevent it from happening. It's important to increase those who open their eyes to harassment." 

"Gender bias continues to maintain these structures"

Lawyer Yusuke Kasagi mentioned that this survey shows the systemic issues. One issue is lack of protection towards freelancers and part-time workers. As freelancers are not protected under labor laws, many are afraid that they will lose their jobs and accept the harassment.

Another issue is gender inequality.

"When you read about the individual episodes behind those who have suffered sexual harassment and/or academic harassment, it's mostly men who conduct these harassments. One of the biggest issues is the gender imbalance in the position of power and that's what continues to maintain these structural issues." and also insisted, "Corrective measures to reduce gender imbalance is an urgent matter." 

The investigation team will continue to research and work on improving conditions of freelancers and improving gender inequality.