No woman should have to suffer sexual harassment, nor be silenced when she decides to speak out, singer Ira Losco told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Losco, who represented Malta twice at the Eurovision Song Contest and is one of the leading singers on the island, was asked for her views following two difficult weeks for the cultural sector, with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) and the Manoel Theatre both involved in scandals of a different nature, but with both potentially having a negative effect on the cultural sector.

“It is already hard enough to be a survivor of any sexual attack/harassment, let alone speak out about it, ridiculing, silencing or attempting to silence any victim regardless of gender is not right and never will be,” she added in her comments to this newspaper.

Over the past days, The Malta Independent on Sunday contacted a number of personalities to get their views on the effect the scandals are having on the industry. While women were open to speaking up, most of the men were more reluctant.

In the last two weeks, there have been three major suspensions in the cultural sector, while legal action was also taken with regard to a sexual harassment incident at the MPO.

A senior official at the MPO, whose name is protected by court order, was placed under a restraining order as well as given a suspended sentence after admitting to having sexually harassed a young female orchestra musician over a span of more than three years. The woman had resigned from the orchestra so as to avoid further contact with the man.

A few days later MPO CEO Sigmund Mifsud, a former Labour Party candidate, was suspended and placed on half-pay after he had been charged with tampering of evidence after he allegedly instructed MPO employees to keep quiet on this scandal.

With regards to the Manoel Theatre, on Wednesday, the theatre’s CEO Massimo Zammit was suspended on half salary by the management board after an external and autonomous entity had presented a report on investigations it had carried out following a series of allegations. “In view of the content of these, as well as other allegations, the Minister for National Heritage, The Arts and Local Government Dr Owen Bonnici has referred the matter to the Police,” government said.

Times of Malta reported on Thursday that Zammit had been removed due to allegations of financial mismanagement, workplace harassment and unprofessional behaviour. The case has since been referred to the police as it needs further investigation.

The Malta Independent on Sunday sought a reaction from various people connected to the cultural industry, but few opted to share their views.

Esteemed opera singer Joseph Calleja chose not to comment as the matter was still being dealt with by the courts and he felt that it would be “imprudent” to comment at this stage.

MPO resident conductor Michael Laus also chose not to give any comments at this stage.

Actor and artist Isabel Warrington said that although she does not know exactly what happened, these scandals are “not placing the cultural sector in a good light”.

“This is not acceptable, especially in a place of work where you want to feel safe. People in leadership should not be doing this,” she said.

“People need to be held accountable,” she said.

As a woman, she said she found the sexual harassment allegations to be “absolutely appalling”, however, she was content that people were being held accountable.

She mentioned how it used to be pretty common in the past for cases such as these to be ignored “across the board”.

Popular actor Alan Montanaro said that this scenario was all “very sad and alien” to him.

However, he said that he did not feel like the right person to contact regarding these scandals because he was just an actor.

“I do not produce shows at the Manoel, so I do not deal with these people in positions of power,” he said.

“I’m so disappointed and sad that this is happening to an industry that I care about. It’s the actual antithesis of what culture stands for and it makes me question the reason why people get into this line of work. Are they there to serve or are they there to grab?”

He said that this was an industry that needed all the help it can get. “We should be helping each other to succeed; instead we are just falling apart at the seams,” he said.

Director and artist Kenneth Zammit Tabona said that he does not wish to comment at this point in time.

The performing arts NGO, Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA) released a statement calling for the arts sector to be “depoliticised”. MEIA said that in order for the cultural industry to grow in Malta it needs to be separate from any political influence.

TV personality and president of MEIA Howard Keith Debono publicly said on Facebook that he wishes to comment once the investigations are concluded. However, he did say that “the loser in all of this is the creative community and ultimately the country”.

Former Labour party candidate and dancer Felix Busuttil said that he is not in a position for any comment due to the fact that this is an ongoing case before the courts.