1) Put time and effort into formulating and building consensus around precise terminology

Why?

• Precise and specific descriptions of what exactly constitutes sexual harassment, power abuse, and gender-based violence in the cultural workplace are needed at organisational, local, and European levels.

• Clear descriptions can help to differentiate between intentionally predatory behaviour and unintentionally hurtful actions born from (cultural/contextual) ignorance or a lack of emotional education.

• Regardless of the scale and scope of an organisation (or a consortium of them), the process of democratising contributions, of articulating the meanings behind certain terms, of (re) writing and contextualising definitions based on feedback and dialogue, and of communicating the results of this work with the goal of widespread understanding and adoption will take time and effort.

Recommendations

• Spend time elaborating your own definitions of certain terms so that they are as precise as possible. Be prepared to regularly revisit them in collaboration with coworkers, constituents (board members, students, freelancers, etc.), and peer organisations. Revise them when necessary and according to lived experiences.

• Share the fruits of your work with others. Consider how to make these explicitly defined terms easily accessible to anyone who would like to read them. Ask yourselves if they should be translated into other languages.

Discussion point

• Sexual harassment and power abuse sometimes occur in places that are outside of the official purview of an organisation (such as a private residence, or a bar or restaurant).

What can or should be done, by an organisation, about inappropriate behaviour that can – and often does – happen in such “grey zones” ?