The British Fashion Council launches a series of initiatives to stop model mistreatment

After the scandals that revealed the alleged sexual abuse of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the fashion photographer Terry Richardson, banned by numerous magazines, Bruce Weber, accused of sexual misconduct, and accusations that models would be mistreated at a casting for Balenciaga at Paris fashion week in February, it was necessary measures to ensure safety even in the fashion world.

So the British Fashion Council, that is, the non-profit council that helps support young designers and talents, as well as promoting British design internationally, has decided to collaborate with the British Fashion Model Agency Association to stop the mistreatment of the models.

Caroline Rush, managing director of BFC, said she was contacted by the association to help establish codes of conduct for agencies and fashion industry:

"They understood the need to develop an independent committee that will challenge agencies, as well as industry norms, to ensure that models are treated with the same respect and care as all employees in the industry",

adding as the complaints and the #MeToo hashtag of social media used to highlight crimes and sexual harassment "has meant there is no better time for the industry to work together to stamp out any form of maltreatment or abuse".

How to protect fashion workers?
Setting guidelines for equitable and fair labor practices, creating a safe space in which models and agencies can report abuse and misconduct, but also by helping models negotiate visa regulation in the period preceding Brexit.

There will also be a telephone number for reporting misconduct. The complaints will then be examined by a committee of important figures in the sector and the models that have been abused illegitimate will be told to go directly to the police.

Hopefully, other countries, besides Britain, will adopt similar and effective initiatives.