Female Agents

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By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts reporter

Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Macmanus has told MPs there is a " Tidal Wave " of revelations about sexual assault in The Music Industry waiting to be told.

The broadcaster and writer told A House of Commons committee an " unbelievable" number of stories have Not Yet emerged.

The Music business is " a boys' club" and " The System is kind of rigged against women" She Said .

Many women fear for their careers if they speak out about misconduct or abuses of power, she added.

" There needs to be some sort of a shift in women feeling like they're able to speak out without their careers being compromised, " The DJ formerly known as Annie Mac told The Women and Equalities Committee.

" I don't know how that can happen. I feel like there are a lot of revelations that have not been exposed, even just from The conversations that happened for [The hearing] today.

" It's infuriating, The amount of women who have stories of sexual assault that just kind of buried them and carried them. It's just unbelievable.

" So I do think if something were to happen, like if one person was to speak that had enough profile where it got media attention, I think there could be a kind of Tidal Wave of it. Definitely. "

Macmanus explained she had not experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct personally, but said her 19 years at The Bbc gave her a " shield of protection" to talk about such issues.

She Said she had spoken to " a real range of" Female Agents , managers, producers, photographers, artists and fellow DJs.

" There are common threads that run through everything I've heard, " She Said . " That is that women, especially Young Women in The Music Industry , are consistently underestimated and undermined, and freelance women are consistently put in situations where they are unsafe. "

She gave an example of one artist who went to The pub with a Record Label boss, who kept asking her not to Go Home . " And Then when they go out in The Street , he sexually assaulted her, " She Said .

A lot of women had told her about " a general sense of feeling unsafe" in male-dominated venues, Macmanus said.

" The Music Industry is a boys' club. Everybody Knows everyone in The Top levels. All The People at The very top levels have The Money . They also have The Power . The System is kind of rigged against women. "

Singer and former X Factor contestant Rebecca Ferguson also gave evidence to The MPs, who are conducting an inquiry into misogyny in The Music Industry .

" Misogyny in Music Is The tip of The Iceberg of The things that are happening behind The Scenes , " Ferguson told them.

She Said " bullying and corruption is being allowed to happen" and that men in senior positions had asked security staff " to infiltrate and purposely ruin my romantic relationships".

" I witnessed other performers being encouraged to engage in messages of a sexual nature with each other, " she added.

She told The MPs: " There are plenty of times when you're placed in situations where you are being compromised and where people are abusing their level of power.

" But as well as that, The Thing that worries me The Most is The rapes that are going unreported. That's what concerns me The Most - The fact that women feel like they can't Speak Up .

" One lady contacted me and said, 'I've wanted to do this [speak out] my entire life. If I Speak Up against him, he's so powerful, I will never work in this industry ever again'. "

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Source of news: bbc.com