Yahoo News Star Wars boss vows to tackle Hollywood sex harassment
Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm president and manager of the Star Wars franchise, has spoken out about the issue of sexual harassment within the film industry, and has proposed a plan to tackle the problem.
Speaking at ELLE's Women in Hollywood event, Kennedy said that, following the allegations made against Harvey Weinstein by a number of high-profile women,"the light of public scrutiny will have been strengthened, and we all hope the ability of corporations, boards of directors, and colleagues to cover up and countenance sexual predators will be severely curtailed".
She added: "Predators must come to feel that they can't count on power or wealth or fame to shield them from the consequences of their actions."
Describing the aims of the commission as "developing new, industry-wide protections against sexual harassment and abuse", Kennedy continued: "The commission should be fully funded by our industry in order to address the task at hand in a thorough-going, comprehensive fashion.
"We must make the film industry an exemplar in this regard, a model for self-regulation that other businesses can emulate.
"It seems to me that the solution would include zero-tolerance policies for abusive behaviour and a secure, reliable, unimpeachable system in which victims of abuse can report what's happened to them with a confident expectation that action will be taken without placing their employment, reputations, and careers at risk.
"This kind of abuse is epidemic. In every sector of industry and throughout our society, and we have to act to change that. We should have acted long ago. We must act now.
"I am proud to have worked in film my entire adult life and I reject the idea that misogyny is the true heart of this industry."
Following the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the producer has been removed from his company and expelled from Oscars governing body The Academy, and his wife has confirmed she has separated from him.
Weinstein has "unequivocally denied" any allegations of non-consensual sex.
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