Promoting safe, inclusive and respectful workplaces in audiovisual and live performance across Latin America

UNI Americas’ Media, Entertainment & Arts department (UNI Americas) and the International Federation of Actors with their affiliates in the Latin American region (FIA-LA), are launching a three-week campaign to change the unacceptable working environment in the arts and audiovisual, radio, live performance and entertainment production in Latin America.

Beginning Thursday, 11 July, FIA-LA and UNI Americas affiliates across Latin America will launch a social media drive calling for safer, more inclusive and respectful workplaces. Over the course of the campaign, unions will call on employers to unite with workers to build violence-free workplaces and encourage national governments to ratify and implement the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 190 on Violence and Harassment in the workplace. The convention outlines the responsibility of employers to provide adequate resources for both preventing and addressing incidents of violence and harassment in the workplace.

The campaign is part of a broader initiative to promote the endorsement and implementation of the FIA-LA/UNI Americas Charter of Cooperation, presented to regional affiliates in Bogota, Colombia, in December 2023. The Charter is a document set to provide tools and good practices for unions in the prevention of and attention to behaviours that constitute discrimination, harassment and violence in this sector.

It follows a joint UNI Americas/FIA survey in 2022, which unveiled the deep-rooted and damaging culture of sexism, discrimination, violence and harassment in the audiovisual and performing arts sectors in Latin America. The study found that almost 90 per cent (89.4 per cent) of respondents said they have experienced situations of violence and/or harassment in their workplaces. Broken down, the figure was 95 per cent for trans or non-binary workers, 87 per cent for women and 70 per cent for men.

Lucia Lindner, Director of UNI Americas Media, Entertainments & Arts sector, said:

“Workers tell us, and our research shows, that violence and harassment is rife across the industry in Latin America, particularly against women and the LGBTQ community. That’s why we’ve teamed with FIA to join forces to end unacceptable behaviour and forge a new industry culture that is safe, respectful and free from fear.”

The FIA-LA/UNI Americas Charter of Cooperation for a safe work environment in arts, audiovisual production, broadcasting, live performance and entertainment is available in English, Portuguese and Spanish below.

To download the campaign material, click here.