Misogyny in Music Updates: Latest Developments

The UK Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) is the entity behind the ‘Misogyny in Music’ inquiry, whose initial report we covered in January 2024, before a follow-up in June 2025.

The latest update is a pair of letters sent to ministers by the committee’s chair Sarah Owen MP focused on “stronger legislative protections to tackle misogyny and the silencing of victims in the music industry and the creative sector in general”.

One letter, to the UK’s culture, media and sport secretary Lisa Nandy MP, focuses on Ciisa, the watchdog set up to tackle discrimination and abuse in the creative industries. Owen expressed frustration at “a lack of sustainable funding” in comparison to similar standards authorities in other industries.

The second letter, to the business and trade secretary Peter Kyle MP, focuses on legislation banning the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases of discrimination, harassment and abuse.

The concern here is that the planned law changes may not cover freelancers, who are estimated to account for three quarters of music-industry workers in the UK.

“It would be simply unjustifiable to offer these protections for some workers but not all – especially in industries built on the backs of freelancers,” wrote Owen.