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London, United Kingdom | AFP | Actress and activist Emma Watson has donated £1 million to kickstart a new British fund to help women facing harassment and abuse at work, launched ahead of Sunday’s Baftas and backed by hundreds of female entertainment stars.
The justice and equality fund was announced in an open letter supporting the US Time’s Up movement, signed by around 200 women, including actresses Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Keira Knightley and Saoirse Ronan.
The letter is addressed to “dear sisters” — as was a similar missive signed by Hollywood stars last month — and calls for an international movement to stamp out a culture of abuse exposed by the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
Watch @EmmaWatson announce our partnership with @BAFTA and key industry organisations to eradicate bullying & harassment in the screen sector https://t.co/qCAILLuAyR pic.twitter.com/IzT90LxdZC
— BFI (@BFI) February 14, 2018
The fundraising page for the new fund shows Watson, who won fame in the Harry Potter films and is now a UN Women goodwill ambassador, made the opening £1 million (1.13 million euros, $1.4 million) donation.
Knightley and British actor Tom Hiddleston have both given £10,000 to the fund, which will be used to set up a network of advice, support and advocacy projects to tackle abuse across all sectors of work.
It follows a legal aid fund set up by A-list stars in the United States to help both women and men abused at work.
“In the very near past, we lived in a world where sexual harassment was an uncomfortable joke; an unavoidable, awkward part of being a girl or a woman,” the letter published in The Observer newspaper says.
“In 2018, we seem to have woken up in a world ripe for change. If we truly embrace this moment, a line in the sand will turn to stone.”
