Sexism in publishing: 60% of professionals victims of inappropriate behavior

Despite awareness campaigns and hashtags, sexist or sexual acts are still a sad reality in the world of work. A consultation carried out by Ipsos and the

magazine

reveals that the publishing sector is particularly concerned. In this environment, six out of ten people say they have been victims. Proof of the scale of the phenomenon: 

was almost overwhelmed by the number of responses to its call for testimonials: more than 1,000 in less than 48 hours, most often with very detailed descriptions of hands on the shoulder, from hands to buttocks, sexist jokes ...

"We did not expect at all this wave of responses, which shows all the same how much the word needed to be taken", reports Anne-Laure Walter, editor-in-chief of the magazine, and responsible for collecting these testimonials.

"There, we have testimonies which are not only notebooks of grievances, but they are people who want to change things and who propose solutions", she points out.

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"Much clearer and sharper sanctions"

These solutions would consist, for example, in setting up a charter within publishing houses or in making literary prize juries more feminine. But for Caroline Laurent, editor, author, and one of the first to have alerted on this subject more than a year ago, the important thing remains above all listening. "To listen to the moment when an editor or a young author comes to tell what she has suffered with a publishing house boss or a literary journalist, and to have much clearer and clearer penalties is essential", she summarizes .

Still according to Caroline Laurent, time remains the best means of combating this phenomenon; little by little, the new generations of professionals, better aware of this question, will replace those she calls "the old white males over 50 years old."