freelancing

Freelance makeup artist Erin Victoria is one of many self-employed workers who have experienced harassment at work. When she contacted a freelance photographer to arrange a test shoot, Erin details how “he would continually make inappropriate comments on how I looked and suggest we meet up for a drink,” before sending “pornographic images that he had taken asking me whether I would want to model for him and do those poses.” When Erin ceased contact with the photographer things escalated badly, “he started calling me all day (20 times in half an hour on one day) and would turn up at my house uninvited to talk to me.” Since the incident Erin noted how other photographers that she shared the story with told her that she was merely “overreacting” and the photographer who harassed her was simply “enthusiastic."

Erin’s story is horrendous but sadly doesn’t sound too shocking when you consider that individuals who are freelance, gig workers or on zero hour contracts are much more likely to be subject to harassment. A survey by ComRes commissioned by the BBC that spoke to 6,206 adults found that “people employed by an organisation were significantly less likely (29%) to have suffered unwelcome sexual behaviour at work than people engaged as freelancers, gig workers or on zero hours contracts (43%).”

Freelance photographer Sara Gomez acted as an assistant on a big production where she worked on the light design and assisted another photographer in a department where she was the only woman. “The photographer I had to work with, he didn't talk to me, he didn’t even mention my name unless he wanted to state something bad, by saying things like ‘you've done it wrong,’ ‘you don't know,’ ‘let my male assistant do it.’ If that wasn’t bad enough, Sara goes on to describe how she went to the head of production to ask for a change of team and was told "we know about him, misogyny is normal here and you need to be strong. He has a history of treating women like that."

This wasn’t Sara’s first experience of mistreatment while working, she goes on to explain, “like that experience, I have hundreds. From random men telling me I don't know what is in my studio and how it works, to mansplaining to me about how to do the lights for a set, or ignoring me and speaking to my nearest male assistant addressing things that I have to change/work on. Being a woman in this industry is really tough.”

And the ‘industry’ Sara is referring to is not the only one. From fashion, hair and makeup, to film, television and music. With an inclination to put creativity and artistry at the the core of the business instead of workers rights and comfortability, the creative industries can be some of the worst offenders.

Freelance creative consultant & concept creator Maxine Griffiths points out that it's not just on the job where freelancers are vulnerable, its during the job hunting process also. “Most recently, I had to address this very issue (freelancers being vulnerable to harassment at work) and had to highlight the danger of sexual cyber harassment online from those claiming to be freelance photographer agents or creative directors praying on new models entering the industry.” She lists “reporting” and “monitoring” as ways to deal with these issues.