If you want to identify the risks of inappropriate behaviour within your organisation, team, or a specific production, at minimum ask yourself the following questions:

Step 1: What are the risks of inappropriate behaviour?
The Council for Culture identified several risk factors in its report Over de grens (Over the Line, 2022) that make the cultural and media sectors particularly vulnerable to inappropriate behaviour:

“Firstly, it is a sector with a high supply of talent but limited opportunities to access work. So-called ‘gatekeepers’, such as casting directors, curators, teachers at art academies, or artistic directors, can grant or deny access to the professional field. This leads to power imbalances that foster unsafe situations. Secondly, the sector largely relies on flexible, temporary contracts that cause job insecurity. This too can lead to situations where boundaries are easily crossed. Furthermore, romantic notions about the artist persist—namely that suffering is necessary to create great art—and the sector is characterized by a performance culture, where artists continuously raise the bar and often neglect their own physical and mental well-being.”

Make an inventory of all possible risks within your organisation. For example, working in one-on-one situations, physical contact, intimate or physically demanding scenes, (informal) power relations, or alcohol use related to work.

Step 2: What kinds of inappropriate behaviour can these risks lead to?
Inappropriate behaviour includes sexual harassment, discrimination, aggression and violence, intimidation, or bullying. For example, little or no knowledge about diversity among gatekeepers can increase the risk of discrimination, while intimate scenes and one-on-one working situations can pose risks for sexual harassment.

Step 3: Why does inappropriate behaviour occur?
The Integrity Triangle model by criminologist Donald Cressey offers insight into the context that contributes to inappropriate behaviour within organisations. The three points of the integrity triangle are:

• Opportunity: When there are no clear behavioural rules, a lack of supervision, or a culture where inappropriate behaviour is not addressed.
• Rationalisation: When inappropriate behaviour is justified or excused, for example by saying “everyone does it this way” or “it’s just a joke.”
• Motivation or Pressure: Factors that may push someone to engage in unwanted behaviour. For example, excessive pressure to premiere a production on time or dependence on a particular artist.

Step 4: What control measures are needed to prevent or limit inappropriate behaviour?
These measures may include drafting or revising a code of conduct, hiring an intimacy coordinator, training managers to enforce behavioural rules, or adjusting factors related to work distribution, the workplace, or training.

If you have any questions following the guidelines or would like to discuss your situation, please contact our advisors at advies@mores.nl.