Showing posts with label sexual assault in the modeling industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexual assault in the modeling industry. Show all posts

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Modeling Industry Leaders Call on Victoria's Secret to Join the RESPECT Program to Protect Models


BREAKING NEWS:

The Model Alliance has penned an open letter to Victoria’s Secret and its CEO John Mehas urging them to join the RESPECT Program and to commit to protecting models from predatory behavior and sexual misconduct.  Connection between alleged sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein and L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner, along with allegations of sexual assault naming several renowned VS photographers prompted the letter which has been signed by over one hundred models and industry powerhouses including editors and photographers.  To be clear, models have every right to expect fair treatment by everyone in the industry, to be safe, to be protected by those responsible for their careers, and to be given respect.  These are not just model issues, but human rights issues.   



Read the letter here, and follow the links below to see news coverage:

Model Alliance & TIME'S UP Call on Victoria's Secret to join the RESPECT Program

On Tuesday, the Model Alliance issued an open letter calling on Victoria’s Secret to protect its models and aspiring models from sexual misconduct by joining the RESPECT Program.

The letter came in response to multiple allegations of predatory behavior by Victoria's Secret-affiliated photographers Timur Emek, David Bellemere and Greg Kadel, and a recent article in the New York Times about the link between L Brands’ CEO Leslie Wexner and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who reportedly lured and abused vulnerable girls by posing as a talent scout for Victoria's Secret.

Together, with over 100 models — including Christy Turlington Burns, Edie Campbell, Karen Elson, Milla Jovovich, Doutzen Kroes, Iskra Lawrence, Carolyn Murphy, Lyndsey Scott, and Gemma Ward—as well as industry supporters, photographers Inez and Vinoodh and former Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive, and TIME'S UP, we urged Victoria’s Secret CEO John Mehas to take meaningful steps to remedy the situation and work towards prevention by joining the RESPECT Program — the only existing anti-sexual harassment program designed by and for models.

We are hopeful that Victoria's Secret will take these issues seriously, and use its power and influence to help address these concerns that have plagued the industry for far too long. We believe that if Victoria's Secret were to take a stand against these abuses and commit to meaningful change by joining the RESPECT Program, this would go a long way in helping our industry chart a new path forward. 

Since the release of the letter, many media outlets have covered our collective call to action. Please find links to some of the press coverage below.

Thank you for your support and belief that industry leaders like Victoria's Secret can and must do better by the modeling talent they rely on. We are grateful for your continued support.

Sincerely,

The Model Alliance Team


#Time4RESPECT



John Mehas, CEO
Victoria's Secret LLC
Three Limited Parkway
Columbus, Ohio 43230

Dear Mr. Mehas,

We are writing today to express our concern for the safety and wellbeing of the models and young women who aspire to model for Victoria’s Secret. In the past few weeks, we have heard numerous allegations of sexual assault, alleged rape, and sex trafficking of models and aspiring models. While these allegations may not have been aimed at Victoria's Secret directly, it is clear that your company has a crucial role to play in remedying the situation.  From the headlines about L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner’s close friend and associate, Jeffrey Epstein, to the allegations of sexual misconduct by photographers Timur Emek, David Bellemere, and Greg Kadel, it is deeply disturbing that these men appear to have leveraged their working relationships with Victoria’s Secret to lure and abuse vulnerable girls.
These stories are gut-wrenching and hit close to home for many of us who have encountered these kinds of abuses that are too often tolerated in our industry. We stand with the courageous women who have come forward and shared their stories, despite fears of retaliation or harm to their careers. It breaks our hearts to keep hearing these stories. We can and must do better. It is time for RESPECT.

The RESPECT Program—a program of the Model Alliance—is the only existing anti-sexual harassment program designed by and for models. Signatory companies make a binding commitment to require their employees, agents, vendors, photographers and other contractors to follow a code of conduct that protects everyone’s safety on the job, and reduces models’ vulnerability to mistreatment. Models have access to an independent, confidential complaint mechanism, with swift and fair resolution of complaints and appropriate consequences for abusers. Further, RESPECT includes a robust training program aimed toward prevention, to ensure that everyone understands their rights and responsibilities.

We are calling on Victoria’s Secret to take meaningful action to protect its talent and those who aspire to work with the company. Victoria’s Secret has the opportunity to be a leader, to use its power and influence to bring about the changes that are urgently needed in our industry. Every day, fashion brands, publishing companies, and agencies set the norms of what’s acceptable and what’s not in fashion. If Victoria’s Secret were to take a stand against these abuses and commit to meaningful change by joining the RESPECT Program, this would go a long way in helping our industry chart a new path forward.

Victoria’s Secret, change can start with you.  Together, we can lead the industry to RESPECT.  Join us.

Sincerely,
Model Alliance



                                                               XOXO Shelley

#businessofmodeling  #timesup  #modelalliance #modelsrights #sexualassaultinmodelingindustry #modelingindustrynews #victoriassecret #jeffreyepstein
#facethis.blogspot.com #ShelleyGoodstein











Friday, November 10, 2017

SPEAK UP: SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MODELING INDUSTRY


I want to write to all my readers who are models and model-hopefuls regarding the wave of women, and men, bravely coming forward and speaking out against those who abuse their power in the modeling industry. WE HEAR YOU! 

The news headlines are filled with sexual abuse allegations aimed at Hollywood powerhouses, politicians, and people in a position of power in sports, as a wave of courage sweeps across nearly every industry, exposing the abuses by those who for so long who have leveraged their power for their own sexual gratification, victimizing vulnerable young people, and rendering them silent out of fear that they will lose their dream careers if they protest.  And the modeling industry is no different. 


Model Cameron Russell has given a platform on Instagram where people could tell their own stories and relay incidences they have witnessed, models often speaking out for the first time of the sexual harassment and assault they have endured.  The response has been astounding as so many models including those at the top have come forward and publicly shared the abuse and humiliation they have suffered, using the hashtag #myjobshouldnotincludeabuse. 

Not one single model should ever be forced to be in an uncomfortable, threatening, or dangerous situation on a casting, go-see, or job – ever.  No model should feel they need to expose themselves, be touched inappropriately, be sent to an unsafe location, coerced into activities outside of actual modeling, or be made to feel that they do not have a right to speak up if such a situation arises. 

Cameron Russell has made a call to action to all industry leaders from agents, to casting directors or magazine editors to designers to brands, to stop using photographers who are known sexual predators against models.  Agents need to make it safe for models to tell them when they experience harassment and abuse, but more that that, they must be held morally accountable for sending models into the paths of these known perpetrators in the first place.

Please, if you are model or model-hopeful, know that now is the time to speak up if you have been victimized.  There is support for you and you will be heard. There are organizations who can advise you on how to get legal help, and support you in beginning the healing process for yourself.  By speaking up you will be helping to end this predatory culture, making a difference in the industry for every model in the future.  Your career depends more on taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally, than anything else.  It is a lie that the only way to succeed is to play along with the situation, and that all the big models before you had the same experience and only succeeded because they played the game.

Some of my model friends who had lengthy international careers have told me stories that are shocking, disheartening, and frightening.  It is the dirty secret of the modeling industry that to anyone actually in the industry is no secret at all, just not discussed.  But those days are over.  Hear me: OVER.

There are resources to help you report incidences to the authorities, find legal and medical assistance, mediation, and support.  You owe it to yourself to seek help and it can be as private as you need it to be.  Not seeking help victimizes you a second time.  You deserve better.  If your agent is not supportive there are organizations that will advise you, but consider the relationship you have with an agent that would not defend you or come to your aid. 


It is time to end the rampant abuse in the modeling industry.  It needs to come from the models standing up for themselves, the agents reporting these crimes and supporting their models, and for the editors, designers, clients and publishers to finally stop hiding the criminals who have had free reign in the industry for far too long. 


I SUPPORT YOU! The industry players are legally bound to create a safe workplace for models. SPEAK UP AND BE HEARD!



Resources:



FREE AND DISCREET REPORTING OF QUESTIONABLE PRACTICES


Through MODEL ALLIANCE SUPPORT, we assist models with complaints about inappropriate on-the-job conduct, agent issues, or work related problems.
Sexual harassment, abuse, and assault are no part of the “creative process.” They’re against the law. No model has to tolerate any sort of unwanted or inappropriate conduct. No model has to feel pressured to undress.
Opaque accounting, unresponsive representation, one-sided agreements and payment delays are questionable practices at best, and often unacceptable.

We can help.

Safely and privately report, or request assistance with, work related problems, instances of harassment, abuse, or any such sort of unwanted or inappropriate conduct to MODEL ALLIANCE SUPPORT.
Contact us at support@modelalliance.org to report or request assistance. Although we cannot provide legal advice, if your issues require the assistance of an attorney, they will advise you accordingly and can assist you in finding one. For access to our Model Alliance Support service, be sure to sign up here.




Cameron Russell   @cameronrussell   #myjobshouldnotincudeabuse



The National Sexual Abuse Hotline:      https://www.rainn.org/





                                                          XOXO  Shelley




#myjobshouldnotincludeabuse  #the model alliance #Cameron Russell #sexual abuse in the modeling industry #models speaking up against abuse #sexual predators in modeling industry #sexual assault in modeling business #sexual harassment in modeling industry #support for models who are victims of sexual assault #facethis.blogspot.com  #Shelley Goodstein