Sexual Exploitation of Women in Malayalam Film Industry | Thiruvananthapuram News – Times of India

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Justice Hema Committee report, formed to study workplace conditions and related issues faced by women in Malayalam film industry and submitted to the govt in 2019 but kept under wraps for close to five years, was finally made public on Monday.
The 235-page report — 65 pages were redacted to protect privacy of individuals — based on depositions and statements from a number of key witnesses, made shocking observations on widespread sexual exploitation and blatant disregard for women’s rights in the industry and the toxic male domination that engendered it.

The report painted a sordid picture of humiliating ‘compromises’ that women are forced to make to survive in the cinema industry — including the practice of casting couch and doling out sexual favours to the high and mighty in the industry or risk a premature end to their careers — where the disparity in remuneration between men and women artistes was huge and basic safeguards like internal complaints committee (ICC) existed only in name.
The report of the three-member committee — high court Justice (retd) K Hema, yesteryear star Sharada and retd IAS officer K B Valsala Kumari — was released following a high court observation that its contents should be discussed by civil society to address and rectify issues faced by women in the industry.
The committee was originally formed on a demand from the Women in Cinema Collective, following the Feb 2017 abduction and sexual assault of a leading female actor, a case still in the trial stage and in which noted actor Dileep is the eighth accused.
“In the course of the study, we understood that the Malayalam film industry is under the control of certain producers, directors, actors — all male. They control the whole Malayalam film industry and they dominate other persons working in cinema,” it said.
The report lists at least 17 types of exploitation experienced by women working across 30 categories within the industry.
Sexual demands made to women for entry into cinema and opportunities to work in the industry, sexual harassment, abuse/assault against women at the workplace along with transportation and accommodation issues are some of them.
“The offer to act or for doing any other job in cinema comes to a woman coupled with a demand for sexual favours. Many witnesses pointed out that in no other job, there is any demand for sexual favours for getting the job. In cinema, the situation is totally different. At the very inception and for the very entry into the film industry, there is a demand for sex. Therefore, women in cinema do not find it safe to go to the workplace all alone,” it said.
‘Even constitution of ICC won’t help’
The report also said all women who spoke about sexual harassment stated that there are indeed highly respectable men too working in the film industry, with whom they found it very safe to work.
The report also reveals the violation of women’s rights by failing to provide basic amenities such as toilets and changing rooms on film sets; there is a lack of safety and security for women in the industry, including in their accommodation and transportation; individuals working in various categories within the cinema industry are often silenced under the threat of being banned from work in the industry.
Contracts between employers and women employees are not executed in writing to suit individual requirements, and there is a failure to pay even the agreed remuneration.
Even the constitution of an internal complaints committee (ICC) -mandatory as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 -will not help redress women’s issues in Malayalam film industry as they will not even dare to take up their complaints before ICC due to threat and coercion, it said.
The report also observes that online harassment and cyber-attacks are also prevalent against women. It says that despite its efforts to speak to junior artistes, it appeared that they were under threat of being denied opportunities in the industry if they provided any statement.
It was also revealed that not just women, but certain men also had faced significant issues in the industry, with some prominent artists being unauthorisedly banned, for trivial reasons, from working in cinema for extended periods -often the result of inadvertently inviting the wrath of powerful lobbies within the industry.
The committee stated that upon inquiring about this alarming situation in the film industry, some, including a prominent actor, argued that women had been working in cinema for many years with out complaints, adjusting to the circumstances.
With regards to the denial of basic needs, some actors commented that it was normal for women to use nearby houses or convenient locations for changing clothes and urinating and that the lack of toilet facilities should not be taken seriously as it was merely a matter of women adapting to the situation.
Despite discussions held during meetings of AMMA –Association of Malayalam Movie Artists -on the toilet issue, with expectations that AMMA would take necessary action through the producers’ association, no progress has been made, and the rights violations continue unabated, the committee noted.