To our friends in MusiCares and our colleagues across the music industry,
We, the survivors of sexual assault and harassment in the music industry, ask for your time and consideration. As we celebrate three female composers who won Grammys this year, we grieve over the abusers who were also awarded, nominated, celebrated, and in attendance at MusiCares and the Grammys this year.
Over the entire course of recorded music history we have been silenced, oppressed, and—far too often—barred from opportunities in exchange for the continuation of the careers of sexual predators. On behalf of all survivors in the music industry we ask: how much does MusicCares care about us?
Those of us who were fortunate enough to have support to do so named our abuse in the resurgence of #MeToo in 2017. While we found power in coming forward, the backlash cost many of us our careers. Society takes comfort in believing that it’s easier for victims to come forward about abuse today than it ever has been, and yet we are missing the stories and voices of countless individuals in the music industry bound by gag orders resulting from sexual assault and harassment. The Adult Survivors Act is now in effect in California, removing the statute of limitations on sexual abuse, and yet many are still unable to pursue justice.
It’s an open secret (that most pernicious of oxymorons!) that the music industry has a long history of covering up sexual abuse. This is done both legally, using the cudgel of NDAs, and indirectly, by vilifying silence breakers. As survivors are harassed, shamed, sued for defamation, and blacklisted, the power structures in the industry at best stand by and take no action, and at worst participate in perpetuating this trauma.
We call on you, as the governing agents of MusiCares, to live up to your mission statement: to unify all people behind music with the people who support them, and lifting those who face challenges by creating safe spaces for advice, to access resources, and be heard. This mission is being fully experienced by some, while for many others it remains out of reach. We cannot take pride in an industry that encourages casting out and shaming our most vulnerable members.
We have lost too much precious music throughout history to allow this silence and shame to continue. The time to end it is now.
We are asking for survivors of sexual assault in the music industry to be heard, supported and empowered. Today, we rise in gentle and firm demand that action be taken. We are asking for you to hold perpetrators of sexual abuse accountable. We are asking you to create trauma-informed, safe spaces so that survivors may share their stories and seek emotional and career support without retaliation. Most of all, we are asking for you to repair the broken spaces of the music industry by hiring survivors and saying no to predators.
Acknowledging the breadth of this problem is the necessary beginning to any improvement, which we can put forth into action immediately by centering survivors and listening to them without interjecting any personal biases or commentary. We are calling for survivors to be shown immediate and continual support from the top to the bottom, encouraging their healing by doing our part to restore their power. To shine a loving and open spotlight in their direction and to allow them to take the mic and be the ones to guide this movement of change. With our voices at the table, we see a path to truly healing the music industry and moving forward together with bravery and compassion.
With gratitude,
The Female Composer Safety League
We, the survivors of sexual assault and harassment in the music industry, ask for your time and consideration. As we celebrate three female composers who won Grammys this year, we grieve over the abusers who were also awarded, nominated, celebrated, and in attendance at MusiCares and the Grammys this year.
Over the entire course of recorded music history we have been silenced, oppressed, and—far too often—barred from opportunities in exchange for the continuation of the careers of sexual predators. On behalf of all survivors in the music industry we ask: how much does MusicCares care about us?
Those of us who were fortunate enough to have support to do so named our abuse in the resurgence of #MeToo in 2017. While we found power in coming forward, the backlash cost many of us our careers. Society takes comfort in believing that it’s easier for victims to come forward about abuse today than it ever has been, and yet we are missing the stories and voices of countless individuals in the music industry bound by gag orders resulting from sexual assault and harassment. The Adult Survivors Act is now in effect in California, removing the statute of limitations on sexual abuse, and yet many are still unable to pursue justice.
It’s an open secret (that most pernicious of oxymorons!) that the music industry has a long history of covering up sexual abuse. This is done both legally, using the cudgel of NDAs, and indirectly, by vilifying silence breakers. As survivors are harassed, shamed, sued for defamation, and blacklisted, the power structures in the industry at best stand by and take no action, and at worst participate in perpetuating this trauma.
We call on you, as the governing agents of MusiCares, to live up to your mission statement: to unify all people behind music with the people who support them, and lifting those who face challenges by creating safe spaces for advice, to access resources, and be heard. This mission is being fully experienced by some, while for many others it remains out of reach. We cannot take pride in an industry that encourages casting out and shaming our most vulnerable members.
We have lost too much precious music throughout history to allow this silence and shame to continue. The time to end it is now.
We are asking for survivors of sexual assault in the music industry to be heard, supported and empowered. Today, we rise in gentle and firm demand that action be taken. We are asking for you to hold perpetrators of sexual abuse accountable. We are asking you to create trauma-informed, safe spaces so that survivors may share their stories and seek emotional and career support without retaliation. Most of all, we are asking for you to repair the broken spaces of the music industry by hiring survivors and saying no to predators.
Acknowledging the breadth of this problem is the necessary beginning to any improvement, which we can put forth into action immediately by centering survivors and listening to them without interjecting any personal biases or commentary. We are calling for survivors to be shown immediate and continual support from the top to the bottom, encouraging their healing by doing our part to restore their power. To shine a loving and open spotlight in their direction and to allow them to take the mic and be the ones to guide this movement of change. With our voices at the table, we see a path to truly healing the music industry and moving forward together with bravery and compassion.
With gratitude,
The Female Composer Safety League