POSITIVE ACTION STATEMENT | Stitch N Bitch Edito

Our Purpose

Stitch N Bitch Editors is a grassroots collective supporting women and gender-diverse editors, assistant editors, juniors and other post-production professionals working across film and television.

We exist because there is credible evidence that women, trans and non-binary people experience disadvantage, discrimination, underrepresentation and barriers to progression within film, television and post-production.

Our purpose is to help reduce these barriers by providing a supportive professional community, peer-to-peer advice, networking, skills development, mentoring, job information and opportunities to build industry connections.

Evidence of disadvantage and underrepresentation

Stitch N Bitch reasonably believes that positive action is appropriate because:

The Film and TV Charity’s Let’s Fix It in Post research reports that women accounted for 36.3% of post-production contributions in the Diamond Sixth Cut data. It also found continuing gender gaps, male dominance at senior levels and reports that women may be overlooked for promotion.
The same research found that 91% of post-production respondents believed it was harder to secure work or progress into senior roles without strong industry connections. Closed networks can be particularly difficult for underrepresented people to enter.
The Film and TV Charity’s Looking Glass 2024 research found that 13% of women respondents had experienced sex- or gender-based discrimination. Sixteen per cent of trans and non-binary respondents reported discrimination connected with gender reassignment.
Research from University of Southampton’s Calling the Shots project found that women accounted for only 17% of editors working on films in production in the UK during 2015.
The Creative Diversity Network’s 2025 Diamond: The Seven Point Five Cut report continues to identify barriers affecting freelancers and career progression in UK television, including barriers facing women in mid-career and senior roles.

This evidence supports our reasonable belief that women and gender-diverse post-production professionals can:

Experience disadvantage and discrimination connected with sex or identity.
Have professional and safety needs that differ from those who do not share these characteristics.
Experience disproportionately low participation in particular editing roles and at senior levels.
Be disadvantaged by informal recruitment and closed networks hiring.
Benefit from dedicated professional connections, peer support, mentoring and increased visibility.

Our positive-action approach

Our activities are intended to help members overcome or minimise these disadvantages, meet relevant needs and participate more fully in the film and television industry.

Our positive-action measures may include:

Providing supportive networking and community spaces.
Creating opportunities for editors at different career stages to exchange professional, creative and technical knowledge.
Supporting assistants, juniors and people seeking to progress into more senior editing roles.
Sharing relevant job and career-development opportunities.
Offering peer support, mentoring, talks, workshops and industry consultations.
Helping members establish professional relationships beyond existing closed networks.
Increasing the visibility of women and gender-diverse post-production professionals.
Signposting members to wellbeing, union, training, childcare and accessibility resources.
Providing information intended to make post-production workplaces safer and more inclusive.
Encouraging employers and productions to consider a wider and more representative range of post-production professionals.

These activities are intended to improve access and participation. They do not guarantee employment or give any person an automatic right to a particular job.

Where Stitch N Bitch shares job opportunities or introduces members to productions, the final selection and contracting decision remains with the production or employer.

Stitch N Bitch will not accept instructions that require unlawful discrimination, and employers remain responsible for ensuring that their recruitment decisions comply with equality law.

Legal basis

This statement records our positive-action approach under section 158 of the Equality Act 2010.

Section 158 permits proportionate action where an organisation reasonably believes that people sharing a protected characteristic:

Experience a disadvantage connected with that characteristic.
Have needs that differ from people who do not share it.
Have disproportionately low participation in an activity.

For Equality Act purposes, the protected characteristics relevant to this statement include sex and gender reassignment. “Women and gender-diverse people” is the inclusive community language used by Stitch N Bitch. We recognise that not every identity label has a separate definition under the Equality Act.

As a collective we will not require a Gender Recognition Certificate, medical treatment or medical evidence from a person looking to join or seek support from the collective.

This positive-action statement does not replace our constitution, membership rules, code of conduct, privacy notice or complaints procedure. The legal basis and criteria for membership must be recorded separately in our membership policy.

Proportionality and fairness

Stitch N Bitch intends its activities to be a proportionate response to the disadvantages identified above.

Our principal activities are community support, networking, information sharing, mentoring, training and increasing professional visibility. They are not employment quotas, and we do not automatically appoint or promote individuals because of a protected characteristic.

When considering a positive-action measure, we will consider:

The particular disadvantage or need being addressed.
Whether the measure is likely to help address it.
The effect of the measure on other people.
Whether a less restrictive measure could achieve the same result.
How long the measure should continue.
How its effectiveness can be monitored.

We oppose unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Members and applicants will be treated fairly, respectfully and consistently under our published policies.

Monitoring and review

We will review this statement and our positive-action measures at least once every 12 months.

Where appropriate and lawful, we may monitor anonymised information such as:

Membership and participation levels.
The number and type of professional opportunities shared.
Complaints or concerns about discrimination and accessibility.
Whether our activities continue to address the disadvantages identified.

Providing equality-monitoring information will be voluntary. Information will be handled confidentially and in accordance with data-protection law.

We will amend, limit or stop a positive-action measure if the evidence no longer supports it or if the measure is no longer proportionate.

Adopted: 05/08/2026

Responsible people: Stitch n Bitch Editors