NSFW Material: sensitive subject matter (SA).
Relevance to Sub: Esther Hwang appeared in the Violin Imposter Shorts with TwoSet Violin when they were in Vancouver (November 12-24, 2025 for YouTube uploads).
TLDR: Esther was subjected to non-disclosure agreement (NDA) after bringing her experience to VSO. This meant the VSO could pursue legal action if she talked about what happened to her and bring awareness to an issue which affects people in all types of organizations. A petition signed by 14,500 people forced the VSO to stop legal action against Esther for breaking the NDA. VSO said they'd also change some of their policies.
Absolutely despicable treatment of the victim on VSO's part. We shouldn't stay quiet about such horrible situations, especially when the victim wants to publicly condemn the perpetrator. It just leads to the toxic SA culture prominent in musical institutions where there's such a big power difference.
If I rmb correctly, an NDA can't stop someone from reporting something illegal right?
For instance, NDA on what happens during rehearsal. Someone killed someone else. Obviously I can call the police on that?
The legislation in Canada needs serious updating. There's lots of information on the "Can't Buy My Silence" website which is linked in the Strad article, but here's the FAQ. It refers to several USA state laws which they are using as reference for their campaign. It also has information about studies showing why NDA usage needs to be clarified and restricted.