© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Kerala High Court on Thursday (August 22) ordered the state to place before it in a sealed cover the entire Hema Committee report, including sections redacted for confidentiality. This order comes while the court considers a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding the initiation of criminal proceedings against the offenders named in the report.
The Justice Hema Committee report was released by the Kerala government on Monday (August 19), four-and-a-half years after it was submitted to the Chief Minister. The 233-page document provides a damning indictment of the discrimination and exploitation faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.
On February 17, 2017, a leading Malayalam film actress was abducted and sexually assaulted in her car by a group of men. A prominent actor would later be implicated in the case which sparked outrage across Kerala, and brought under the scanner the discriminatory treatment faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.
The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), comprising women actors, producers, directors and technicians, was formed in response to this incident. On May 18, 2017 the WCC submitted a petition to the Kerala Chief Minister demanding an inquiry into the incident, and larger gender issues plaguing the state’s film industry.
In July, the state government formed a three-member committee headed by Justice K Hema, a retired Kerala High Court judge, to look into issues of sexual harassment and pervasive gender inequality in the Malayalam film industry. After speaking to multiple women in the industry on a variety of issues, the Committee submitted a 295-page report to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in December 2019.
What was the reason behind the delay in the release of the report?
Many have criticised the delay in the release of the Hema Committee report. On Monday, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said “It is utterly shameful and shocking that the government sat on this report for nearly five years now”. Congress’ V D Satheesan, the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, alleged that the Left government was protecting powerful individuals in the film industry. “Whose interest did the government want to protect by hushing up a chain of atrocities?” he said.
The government has, however, maintained that the delay in publishing the report was due to the sensitive information it contained, and the privacy concerns which it raised. “Justice Hema had written to the government on February 19, 2020, urging that the report not be released due to the sensitive nature of the information,” the Chief Minister said on Tuesday.
In March 2022, Kerala Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian, while responding to a question in the state Assembly, had said that the confidentiality of multiple respondents would be violated if the report were to be released.
Why has the report been released now?
In January 2022, the Kerala government formed a panel to work out a plan to implement the recommendations of the Hema Commission report. This panel came up with vague draft recommendations in May 2022. Subsequently, five Right to Information activists and media personnel approached the Kerala State Information Commission (KSIC) for more details.
The KSIC on July 6, 2024, ruled in favour of a controlled release of the report to the petitioners. Sixty three pages of the report were redacted before its scheduled release on August 14.
The Kerala High Court stayed the report’s release following a petition by film producer Saji Parayil, who argued that its publication would violate the right to privacy of individuals (including himself), and possibly expose them to retaliation and harassment. This petition was eventually dismissed.
A plea to the High Court by actress Ranjini, who had deposed before the Committee, further delayed the report. In her plea, she said: “I have the legal right to know how my statement has been recorded on the report”. This petition too was dismissed, and the report was finally released on Monday.
Some key takeaways from the report are:
* A culture of sexual harassment pervades the Malayalam film industry. The Committee reported the existence of casting couch (wherein powerful men demand sexual favours from women in return for opportunities in films), frequent suggestive and vulgar comments made by men at the workplace, and drunk male co-actors forcing themselves into rooms of women, among other things.
* A fear of retribution prevents sexual harassment from being reported. Justice Hema writes in the report: “Many who were examined before the committee were afraid to reveal things which they experienced… we realised that their fear is well-founded.” Beyond direct retribution, the report also mentions the fear of cyber harassment, especially from toxic fan clubs, as a means by which women are forced into silence.
* An all-male “mafia” of influential actors and producers calls the shots across the industry, and wields their power with impunity. “No man nor woman dare to utter any word which may offend anyone belonging to the power group, because such a person will be wiped off the industry by the powerful lobby,” the report says.
* A male-dominated industry has failed to offer even basic facilities to women, including the lack of toilets and changing rooms on sets. The report says that women staff on film sets continue to remain at the mercy of open spaces or shared bathrooms to relieve themselves, often risking UTIs and hospital admission.
* Lack of gender parity with respect to remuneration is primarily due to the absence of written contracts.
