It’s that time of the year again: the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. A time for us to come together and celebrate all the outstanding creative work of our peers from the past year. A time to reconnect with the people who inspire us and give us the fuel to keep creating well into next year. It’s also, unfortunately, a time for us to reflect on an ongoing, real problem of sexual harassment at the festival.

An unwanted and scary advance in a restroom. A proposition in a cab, initially offered in good nature. A display of an unmentionable part of the anatomy. These were three stories of sexual harassment at Cannes that were fired off in less than a minute in conversation with a colleague. With the recent All In Census revealing that the number of people experiencing sexual harassment in adland has dropped from 5% in 2021 to 2% in 2023, these stories serve as a stark reminder that this behavior still exists. And that while this is progress, until that number is zero, we all still have work to do.

While this goes on at every industry conference, the “away from home,” “drunken fun in the sun” element of Cannes makes it a breeding ground for this behavior—when in actual fact, it should be a proving ground. The five-day festival is the largest gathering in the creative marketing community; it can be the litmus test of how far we’ve come, home to not just the best creative in the world but also the most up-to-date thinking on the most important issues of the industry. We need to become ambassadors of change, inspiring others to follow suit and collectively work toward eradicating sexual harassment.

Get educated and trained

One of the first steps is to complete the timeTo training—I have taken it and would encourage all senior leaders to do the same. TimeTo is an initiative set up by NABS, The Advertising Association and a few other senior industry figures in the U.K. to help tackle sexual harassment in advertising. It provides regular, interactive and educational training for agencies and employees, delivered by an expert trainer in a two-hour session, that gives practical guidance on stopping sexual harassment and increases understanding on what is and isn’t acceptable in the workplace. Completing this training means we can be equipped to navigate complexities, recognize signs of potential harassment and take immediate action to address and prevent it, in Cannes and beyond.

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