Today, Tuesday, the Ministry of Culture and the Cinema Academy presented the operating budget for the Anti-Sexual Violence Care Unit in the cultural, audio and visual sector, which was launched a year ago. During the event, they also detailed the protocol developed to prevent, detect and redress sexual violence and harassment due to sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression in the cultural sector. “We have to ensure a safe environment,” Jazmin Birak, the ministry’s director general for cultural rights, said during the event.
In order to strengthen the application of the document, the Ministry of Culture will gradually apply, in its appeals for assistance, an additional degree to companies and organizations that have joined the Protocol, or that have their own protocol. Of course, they have not yet determined when this incentive will become effective.
The unit is a confidential and free first aid service, for all Spanish territories, managed by the ASPACIA Foundation. In it, workers who need information, who are suffering from or have been exposed to a case of sexual violence and/or who have been victims of harassment or abuse are assisted, without the need for prior reporting. These calls can be made by both people who are experiencing them and those who are aware of the violence surrounding them.
Since its launch until October 30, 2025, the unit has dealt with 55 cases, many of which relate to inquiries related to more than one topic. Thus, 60% of it related to information about the services provided by the unit; 24% were related to legal and psychological issues; 24% of consultations were legal and 5.4% were psychological.
Regarding the quality of consultation, 43% of the consultations received referred to cases of sexual assault, most of which were past in time and had psychological consequences in the present; 36% for cases of harassment and ill-treatment in the context of work. 18% abuse of power, 12% sexual harassment, 9% verbal violence, 3% discrimination and 1.82% spousal violence developed in the professional field.
By sector, the majority of people who inquired came from the audiovisual sector (60%), followed by performing arts (10.9%), music (7.14%), cultural management (5.45%) and visual arts (3.65%). “The challenge is to disseminate it more widely so that all sectors, not just the audiovisual sector, where it is more standardized, can use it,” Birak admitted. And another step towards eliminating sexual violence in this sector, “If culture is a right, its future must be safe, violence-free and inclusive.”
Protocol development
Inés Enciso, Coordinator of the Development and Research Department at the Film Academy, was responsible for submitting the protocol and website to the unit. A website they hope will be a “living space” that collects all the information in a “clear and accurate” way so victims and organizations can go to it at all times. In addition to the document, the unit will provide training and awareness tools to prevent sexual violence in cultural settings.
The Protocol, which was developed to serve companies and organizations working in the cultural sector, provides minimum standards of work, prevention and care to ensure that all people are able to perform their jobs without fear of becoming victims of any type of physical, psychological, sexual or emotional abuse. The document is based on proactive prevention and proposes specific general and sectoral measures, with the aim of early detection of any cases of violence or abuse of power. It also considers compensation measures, comprehensive support for victims and the promotion of environments of respect and dignity.
It also sets out procedures for intervention in cases of sexual violence, which include receiving and evaluating complaints, adopting immediate protection measures and conducting internal investigations.
Fernando Méndez-Leite, president of the Film Academy, said that unity “is only the starting point towards full equality in our sector and the rest of the cultural sectors.” He added: “We are aware of the crucial importance of the initiative that makes up this unit. This work aims to examine and understand how it works and how it can be improved. For the Academy, it is a challenge and a responsibility to act as a reference point and accompany the victims in the best possible way,” before stressing that the institution he leads understands that “the cultural sector cannot look the other way. Only through action and accompaniment can we change the industry.”
Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun highlighted that women working in the cultural sector are dedicated to “telling stories” and precisely for this reason they know that “if something changes, it is the one who tells those stories, the one who speaks and the one who listens.” Hence, she wanted to send a message to all professionals that “they will be heard, that their story matters” and that they wanted to “give their voices the status they never had before.”
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