Female and male models shouting Me Too must be heard

Having worked in fashion for the past 35 years, from co-editor for i-D magazine in the Eighties to prime-time presenter on the BBC’s Clothes Show for more than a decade in the Nineties, the world’s most outwardly glamorous industry has never lost its ability to amaze or shock me.

But, in the last few days, this has manifested itself somewhat differently. Terry Richardson, the notorious fashion photographer who has shot campaigns for everyone from Tom Ford to Valentino, has apparently been banned from working with Condé Nast International. It comes after a Sunday newspaper resurfaced allegations of his sexual exploitation of models; in a statement, his representatives said that "Terry is disappointed to hear about this email especially because he has previously addressed these old stories.

"He is an artist who has been known for his sexually explicit work so many of his professional interactions with subjects were sexual and explicit in nature but all of the subjects of his work participated consensually."

The Condé Nast emails don’t make clear why this decision has been made now – there are emails going back to May of this year which talk of contract renegotiations with photographers, including Richardson. But these allegations, which Richardson has always denied, have circulated for years, and I have been drawing my attention to them since I saw images of him engaging in sexually explicit behaviour on set in 2013. I was deeply disturbed that a man of his standing should be allowed to continue to work with the young women who, by so many accounts, he is alleged to have exploited.

I am disturbed by the outpouring of stories of abuse suffered by others in the industry, too. Its seedy underbelly has been highlighted by the likes of model Cameron Russell who, through her Instagram account, has begun collecting stories of the culture of sexual assault in the fashion world under the hashtag #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse, where others have posted about the coercion and manipulation they have suffered at the hands of male photographers and agents.

‘Hearing about #harveyweinstein this week has sparked conversations about how widespread and how familiar his behaviour is’, Russell wrote on her Instagram page. ‘We know what is happening in fashion. We tolerate it and ignore it and excuse it every day. Coming face to face with so many of the people affected is opening to an impossible grief.’

Along with other models including Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley, Kate Upton and Edie Campbell, Russell has highlighted stories of men on set grabbing teen models’ breasts and inviting themselves into their rooms unannounced.

Since I began speaking out about the devastating effects of exploitation of young models - women and men - in the industry, I have been met by a tidal wave of those shouting ‘me too’. At a time where the film world has turned its back on Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood stalwart who allegedly used his position to force himself on numerous women, I want to believe that those who have been so badly let down by the fashion industry finally feel able to speak up.

Yet it remains very hard to penetrate the wall around the powerful. For the last few days I’ve been stuck in my pyjamas, glued to my laptop speaking to people all over the world; complete strangers have reached out to support me, survivors of sexual abuse have generously thanked me, and insiders have got in touch to say how their lives have been besmirched at the hands of the industry’s predators.

Models, assistants and interns of the powerful must feel able speak out, and that they will be believed when they do

A highly respected designer messaged me recalling a time when, early on in her career, she had been witness to teenage models being touched inappropriately by older men on the set of a glamorous TV event. She left immediately, at which point she was told that her career would be ruined, and that she would never again work in fashion.

Profile | Terry Richardson

Then there was the male model who told me of being invited to a ‘very famous’ photographer’s house for a test shoot. ‘He asked me to strip to my underwear and then proceeded to ‘reposition’ my penis. I protested and he stopped but this was obviously a practice known to agents to try to obtain work from him. I was 20 years old.’

These people have shown incredible bravery in coming forward, but are similarly united in their insistence on anonymity; fearful, like those who have contributed to Russell’s Instagram hashtag, that speaking out will put a nail in the coffin of their career.

I know that when I began to publicly challenge Richardson that, while nobody accused me of lying, I felt disapproval from those around me. I was siding with the models who knew they would be disbelieved or even ridiculed. I was accused of na?ve stupidity.

I believe this show of power will now reach other abusers. It reads: abuse is not going to be buried anymore

It is the thought of anyone who has been abused, and their struggle to be heard, that motivates not only me but others, too, to make sure the future is different. So let’s carry on. Models, assistants and interns of the powerful must feel able speak out, and that they will be believed when they do. But model agencies must also take responsibility over the protection of young models, and making sure that their charges are safe. In New York this week, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic announced her plans to introduce an amendment to the state’s anti-discrimination laws - if passed, further protection would be granted to models who are victims of sexual harassment from the likes of photographers and designers.

This kind of protection should be a given for young people in the industry, wherever they are in the world; campaigners like Sara Ziff and Alice Louise have been instrumental in trying to make models’ voices heard.

Most importantly, I believe this show of power will now reach other abusers. It reads: abuse is not going to be buried anymore. As I write, a Facebook message has arrived, naming a female photographer who has been working with young boys in an unethical way. If those affected can find it in themselves to come forward, her days will surely be numbered.

It’s time for change, and the industry credited with being among the most forward thinking should be the first to do it.