David Schwimmer launched a series of anti-sexual harassment videos Monday. The "Friends" star declared he's fighting for the women in his life and all women who experienced being sexually harassed.
The videos consist of six short films. They are part of a campaign called #ThatsHarassment and the shorts are "The Actor," "The Boss," "The Coworker," "The Doctor," "The Photographer" and "The Politician."
Schwimmer served as executive producer and actor in this passion project. He enlisted help from fellow actors Cynthia Nixon, Emmy Rossum, Bobby Carnivale and Cristela Alonzo to appear in the films.
Israeli director Sigal Avin created the #ThatsHarassment videos in her home country. She approached Schwimmer on the possibility of adapting her stories for a wider audience reach. The 50-year-old actor agreed.
"I grew up with stories of sexual harassment from my mom," Schwimmer told Cosmopolitan. "Every woman in my family, in my life, has been harassed, except my daughter, thank god, who's only 6."
Schwimmer said most women don't come forward to expose the sexual harassment for fear of retaliation. In many cases, women don't even know they were harassed because of certain standards in society between men and women.
"You spend your whole life not being treated with the kind of respect that men are automatically given," Schwimmer said. The "Friends" actor want this to change and hopes the short films will help open up conversations and a better understanding of how women must be treated.
Some 30 percent of women claimed they were sexually harassed at work by a boss or a co-worker, as per a 2013 Huffington Post poll. Of these, 70 percent of women admitted they did not file a report nor felt the urge to tell someone about their experience.
"Most people don't talk about it, they suffer in silence," Heather Huhman, whose firm conducted the survey said. "There is a lot of shame that goes into when people treat you like that." Learn more about #ThatsHarassment via Facebook.
