The organiser of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) has come out against the abuse and harassment faced by women at this year’s show.
In a statement shared with GI.biz, the event organisers said that the allegations of assault and spiking of peoples’ drinks at the show and at events occurring at the same time were “outrageous and unacceptable.”
This comes in the wake of accusations from several women who were attending GDC; game writer Leena van Deventer took to Twitter to complain about the treatment of women at the show, including two female attendees who were “lured up to a hotel room by a man in a position of power for a ‘pitch’, where he then assaulted them.”
Games Industry Gathering founder Guy Blomberg, meanwhile, has said he has been informed by several people that drinks were spiked during events on Thursday, March 23rd.
“We are very upset to hear that some people, especially women, reported concerning experiences during the GDC week at off-site events, including assault and drink spiking,” GDC’s organisers wrote.
“This is outrageous and unacceptable; everyone has a right to feel safe. We severely condemn any such behaviour and support the victims; we encourage reporting to the police and hope the perpetrators will be found.
“At the GDC event, we take everyone’s safety very seriously, we do our best to provide a secure environment on site, we enforce a strict code of conduct and make sure that the GDC team is available to help participants contact venue security or local law enforcement, to provide escorts, or to otherwise assist those experiencing unacceptable behaviour to feel safe for the duration of the conference.”
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