27. Hollywood Predator: Would you keep an open secret?

American film producer Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for two separate cases of sexual assault. Women have made allegations of Weinstein committing sexual assault over decades.

Are people who witnessed his crimes but didn’t speak up partly to blame for his long history of misconduct? And, what is it about some workplaces that make them particularly likely to lead to people not speaking up when things go wrong?

On this episode of Bad People, Dr. Julia Shaw and comedian Sofie Hagen discuss why people don’t speak out about sexual assault and harassment in the work place. They are joined by Dr. Camilla Elphick from the Open University, who shares her research on why so many witnesses choose not to speak up, and how we can mobilise witnesses to help alleviate the burden of reporting from victims of harassment and discrimination.

This episode includes audio from Untouchable: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Weinstein produced by Lightbox Media Limited.

Warning: This episode contains strong language and discussion of sexual assault.

CREDITS Presenters: Dr. Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen Producer: Caroline Steel Artwork: Kingsley Nebechi Music: Matt Chandler Series Editor: Rami Tzabar Academic Consultants for The Open University: Dr. Zoe Walkington and Dr. Camilla Elphick Commissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins Commissioning Editor: Jason Phipps Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds #BadPeople_BBC