How To Protect Your Production House From Sex Crime Allegations
There are plenty of incidents of producers and successful artists committing such crimes against the juniors on sets. But the reputation of the industry is often the reason for false allegations, which is an equally big problem. Read on to find out what to do about it
Sex crimes like rape and assault can happen anywhere, but some places are inherently more risky than others. Production houses are among them as people in power often exploit the young and gullible artists.
There are plenty of incidents of producers and successful artists committing such crimes against the juniors on sets. But the reputation of the industry is often the reason for false allegations, which is an equally big problem.
Young people may try to get undue advantages by accusing producers and actors of sex crimes. Production houses must have a plan to protect themselves from such serious allegations. Thankfully, you can do it by being vigilant and far-sighted. Here are some tips to help.
Understand What Constitutes Sex Crimes
If you want to protect yourself against a specific risk, you must define it first. Educate yourself to understand what constitutes sex crimes. No one can blame your company for a sexual encounter that happened with their consent.
Likewise, there is a difference between harassment and offense. Knowing these differences can help you steer clear of false accusations in the first place. You can do your research, talk to others in the industry, and seek legal advice from a reputable New Jersey Sex Crimes Attorney to get a fair understanding of sex crimes.
Implement Sex Crime Policies And Practices
Besides understanding and defining what constitutes sex crimes, you must implement policies and practices to prevent them.
A formal written policy is essential to run your production house without the risk of false allegations. At the same time, it curbs real incidents as well. The good thing about such a policy is that it ensures seamless running and boosts the reputation of your production house.
While implementing these policies and practices is essential, you must take stock of them and upgrade them regularly. An incident with another production house in the industry can serve as a reference point for policy upgrades.
Have Legal Counsel At Hand
Sex crime allegations are commonplace at production houses, and you have to live with them as a part of the business. Having a defense plan in place is the best way to deal with them.
Collaborating with a legal expert keeps you in a good place. You can speak to a sex crimes attorney when such an incident takes place. They can assess the entire situation and create a legal defense for the accused and your production house. In fact, you must be in touch with an expert at all times as they can guide you about the best practices to steer clear of such situations in the first place.
Train Your Employees
You cannot do much about the outsiders working on your projects, but training your employees is a good option. It provides a significant degree of protection against false allegations.
Your team will probably have hundreds of people, from managers to supervisors, technicians, and junior artists. Make sure that everyone is on the same page about sex crime policies.
They must also know that you have a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment. Be there to support them in case of false allegations as well. These will come as a part of the business, but employees must know that you will be there for them if they are wrongly accused.
Ensure Mandatory Reporting
Essentially, people should feel safe while working for your production house. Whether a person is on your payroll or works as a contractual worker, they must have a word.
Ensuring mandatory reporting of sexual harassment incidents goes a long way. It fosters an environment of trust, transparency, and safety for everyone. Moreover, it discourages people from indulging in such unlawful acts.
Overall, your production house is likely to have fewer incidents when there are strict rules for reporting and action on them. Keep track of the laws in the state and ensure you align your systems and policies with them. It will also keep your company ahead on the compliance front.
Wrapping Up
Running a production house takes a lot of work, from managing multiple projects to supervising a huge team. The last thing you want to deal with is a sex crime allegation on your employee or a person working on a project.
Things get even worse when it is a false charge. Such incidents are common in the industry, so you must have a plan to deal with them. Following these tips can help you stay one step ahead of crime and false accusers. Most importantly, have a sex crime lawyer to show you the way and help when a false accusation comes up.