$3 million in aid for victims of violence in the cultural sector

People working in the cultural sector who have been victims of harassment and violence will be able to be represented free of charge thanks to new government assistance of $3 million for the Juripop Legal Clinic. “It’s a giant step today for the cultural community,” said Juripop’s general manager, Sophie Gagnon.

Additional financial assistance of $3 million over three years will enable Aparté, a Juripop resource, to support artists and cultural workers in matters of harassment and violence in the cultural sector.

The Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, made the announcement Tuesday morning, along with Mr.^e Gagnon, the new president of the Union of artists, Tania Kontoyanni, and the director general of the Union of Quebec writers, Laurent Dubois.

“For several years, the cultural community has denounced the lack of available resources and the inequalities around access to legal remedies in situations of psychological harassment or sexual violence,” said Mr. Lacombe in a press release. Sensitive to these realities, our government took the situation seriously and acted to provide the necessary support to the cultural sector.”

“During our program evaluation surveys of the claimants we accompanied, one of the comments that came up often was the fact that they would have liked to have had access to a representation service. We are therefore very happy to be able to meet this demand and contribute to this wind of change in the cultural industry via the Aparté”, declared Sophie Gagnon.