Meryl Streep says that the Harvey Weinstein scandal would not have happened if women had held more positions of power in film.
The Hollywood producer has been accused of numerous counts of sexual assault and harassment, but has denied all non-consensual sex claims made against him.
Streep claims that Weinstein's alleged behaviour would not have been enabled if there had been a more equal balance of women in power in Hollywood.
"If the boards of the company were half female, there wouldn't ever have been pay-offs to anybody," Streep said at a panel at the BuzzFeed office in New York. "None of this — the shenanigans wouldn't have occurred."
The Oscar-winning actress, who was joined by Tom Hanks at the panel, believes that there should be a 50/50 divide of men and women at executive level in all industries.
"I think right now, there are a lot of opportunities in at the bottom, and then you get up to the middle level of management," she said. "But at the top level, the same rules generally adhere. [Women] are at 17–20 percent of the boards. That's pretty much anything, from the Senate to the Supreme Court to probably here."
She revealed that, despite her huge success, she still experiences sexism.
"I still deal with it at the level I've achieved, which is insane," she said. "But we'll all still deal with it because human history moves in increments: two steps forward, one step back."
Streep - who has worked with Weinstein on films including The Iron Lady - previously denied knowledge of the claims made against him. In a statement made in October, she called the alleged sexual harassment "disgraceful", "inexcusable," and an "abuse of power."
