Ad industry launches sexual harassment study

The industry-wide study by advertising think tank Credos, launching today, aims to establish the current level of sexual harassment and provide data to track change in future. Organisations participating in timeTo will invite industry respondents via email links.

Following the study, the initiative plans to product a Code of Behaviour to highlight best practice for companies to implement as a minimum standard. In the longer term, it will also introduce training programmes focused on culture change, aimed at both new joiners and existing staff.

The ISBA and IPA have pledged support to the initiative and other industry organisations and companies will be invited to join.

Stephen Woodford, chief executive, Advertising Association, said: “Our industry, like many others in the UK and around the world, is going through a critical reset in terms of behaviour change. The Advertising Association exists to promote the role, rights and responsibilities of advertising and timeTo is about being clear about the behaviour standard expected of all people who work in advertising.”

Kerry Glazer, president of WACL and chief executive of the AAR, added: “This initiative is not about naming and shaming; it’s about making sure that everyone in the industry is aware that any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that makes a person – male or female – feel uncomfortable, offended, intimidated, or degraded is entirely unacceptable.”