Lawyer, university professor, and academic Anita Hill plan on a new app holding abusers accountable.
What We Know:
- Anita Hill came to notoriety in 1991 after accusing then-Supreme Court nominee and supervisor Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.
- According to thegrio, nonprofit organization The Hollywood Commission conducted surveys on the entertainment industry’s ethical climate and culture. The surveys found that sexual harassment survivors want a way to track harassment and abuse in the workplace. Additionally, TheWrap reported that about 93% of respondents wanted an application that creates a time-stamped record of abuse.
- The app will allow users to message anonymously to ask questions and speak freely. When a complaint about the same person in the workplace comes into the system, the app will notify the workplace; this opens up the chance for a conversation that others have experienced the same issue.
- Additionally, the survey concluded that 91% of survivors want to teach others who may witness workplace abuse what to do. In response, The Hollywood Commission will train 450 entertainment works, which will then train others on how to be an ally to the abused.
- Hill spoke on the development of the app at TheWrap’s annual Power Women Summit. “All of the practices in the world are not going to work unless people trust them. So we’ve got to build a values-based system and, perhaps most importantly of all, we have to ensure accountability,” Hill said. “We can be better in the entertainment industry. But to do that, we have to make changes.”
The app has yet to receive a name, but the beta version is expected to release in early 2021.
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