TRYGT RUM

The cultural industries are driven by creative collaboration and exchange, but rarely are the working conditions well-defined. When the lines between work and privacy are blurred, it can create situations wherein boundaries are ignored, power can be abused, and transgressive behaviour can take place. That is why 13 organisations within the music and cultural industries have financed the hotline “Trygt Rum” (Safe Space), which is an anonymous hotline managed by Sex & Samfund (Sex & Society). 

The organisations behind the hotline pose that the first step is to ensure that no one stands alone with an uncomfortable experience. They must instead be able to call anonymously for guidance.

“If we want to be creative, we need to feel safe. That’s why it saddens me to hear about people within the music and the cultural industries who have felt unsafe, and have experienced a culture of silence, where they have been unable to voice their emotions and their experiences. That’s why it’s groundbreaking that so many organisations within the music industry are uniting to launch Trygt Rum. The hotline can contribute in ensuring a more sustainable industry,” says Anna Lidell, spokesperson of Trygt Rum and leader of Autor.

“The music industry and the cultural industries have a reputation of being tough. You’re told you need to be just as tough to make it in them. That’s not how things are supposed to be. You should never accept sexism, harassment, or other kinds of transgressive behaviours. With Trygt Rum, we provide artists with a safe and anonymous space, where they can take the first step in standing up for themselves,” says Thomas Sandberg, spokesperson for Trygt Rum, and leader in Dansk Musiker Forbund (Danish Musician’s Association).

Trygt Rum is an independent hotline, which takes calls from everyone working within the music and the cultural industries, and have experienced or witnessed transgressive behavior and sexual harassment, or are in doubt about it. The purpose of the hotline is to relieve, clarify, and refer.

In 2021, the organisations Autor, Dansk Artist Forbund (Danish Artists’ Union), Dansk Musik Forbund, Dansk Komponistforening (Danish Composer’s Society), DPA and Musikforlæggerne/MPA Denmark have joined forces and created ten common goals to ensure greater equality in the music industry. The goals align with the UN’s fifth global goal on gender equality.

On International Women’s Day in 2022, the music organisations created an eleventh goal that focuses on tackling structural sexism. The additional goal has resulted in the creation of the hotline Trygt Rum and states the following: “in 2030, the music industry is fighting structural sexism, and both people within the industry and audiences have access to an advisory body that deals with examples of sexist behaviour.”

Read more about: The music industry’s 11 gender balance goals (in Danish only)

Here are the 13 music and cultural organisations that finance Trygt Rum.

• Dansk Komponistforening (Danish Composer’s Society)
• DPA
• Dansk Artist Forbund (Danish Artists Union)
• Autor
• ROSA
• Koda
• IFPI
• Tempi
• Dansk Musiker Forbund (Danish Musicians’ Union)
• Danske Agenters Sammenslutning (Danish Agents’ Union)
• Musikforlæggerne/MPA Denmark
• MXD
• Kunst & Kultur i Balance (Art & Culture in Harmony)

Trygt Rum is managed by Sex & Samfund.