With the RG Kar horror still raging across the minds of the people, the release of the Hema Committee Report seems to have added salt to the injury that has gripped our conscience. The Hema Committee report once again highlights the need to bring the conversation about crimes against women from the courtroom to a dinner table discussion so as to create adequate awareness and, therefore, address the situation, which can only begin after formal acknowledgement of the existing problem.
What is the Hema Committee Report?
The Government of Kerala has appointed an Expert Committee to study and report on various issues faced by women in Malayalam cinema and to suggest solutions for the same. The Expert Committee consisted of three members including a retired High Court Judge, a retired bureaucrat and a senior cinema artist. The Committee is popularly known as the Hema Committee after its Chairperson, Justice K. Hema, the former Judge of the High Court of Kerala.
The other two members of the Hema Committee were Smt. T. Sarada, a veteran actor in the Malayalam Film Industry, and Smt. K.B. Valsalakumari, who has served as the Principal Secretary to the Government of Kerala. The Hema Committee has circulated a detailed questionnaire, prepared its findings with respect to the Hema Committee report, and came up with its recommendations based on the responses it received from members associated with the industry.
What are its findings?
The Hema Committee report highlights seventeen key challenges faced by the women actors in the industry, which are reproduced from the report directly in the following points:
- Sexual favours sought from women since the time of entry to cinema and for getting chances to work in the future
- Rampant sexual harassment and abuse against women at workplace, transportation, place of accommodation
- Torture of women in case they resist or express unwillingness to concede to sexual advances
- Violation of human rights by denying them basic facilities like toilets and changing room on the set of cinema
- Lack of safety and security in cinema, accommodation and transportation
- Unauthorized and illegal banning of individuals working in different categories of cinema
- Silencing of women under threat of ban from work in cinema.
- Male domination in industry, gender bias and large-scale discrimination
- Gross indiscipline in cinema – consumption of alcohol, use of drugs, disorderly conduct/misbehaviour at the workplace
- Making demeaning and vulgar comments at the workplace, over the phone, via texts, etc.
- Non-execution of contract in writing between employers and employees to suit individual requirements.
- Failure to pay even consented remuneration
- The disparity of remuneration between men and women
- Resistance/reluctance to allow women into cinema, especially on the technical side, thereby restricting the opportunity available to them
- Online harassment or cyber-attack
- Lack of legal awareness of women about their own rights
- Absence of any legally constituted authority to redress the grievances.
While discussing the aforementioned issues under separate heads, the committee pointed out the normalization of glaring misconduct prevalent in the industry where making oneself available for sex on demand is considered “adjustments” or “compromises” that women must make in order to excel in or at least survive their careers in the Hema Committee report.
What are its recommendations?
The Committee put forward some recommendations in the Hema Committee report, which included the mandatory establishment of an Internal Complaints Committee consisting of members from the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) and the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). An independent tribunal for handling cases of harassment and discrimination in the cinema industry has also been suggested. Signing written contracts should be mandatory to ensure that the rights of the employee are protected and cannot be curtailed to serve the needs of the employer, the Committee suggests.
Besides, Hema Committee report also suggested a few measures that the industry can embrace to mainstream gender justice in the content of the movies. Drawing on examples from other countries, it has suggested increasing visibility of women on screen and urged content writers of film to characterize women as someone occupying positions of power like politicians, ministers, judges, business women, so as to give young girls better role models.
Additionally, gender awareness training programs deschooling oneself and accepting newer definitions of masculinity and femininity can help in changing society’s perception of what constitutes manliness and femininity. Another innovative measure suggested by the experts includes the initiation of certification of gender justice in movies that make it mandatory to display that no dialogue or situation glorification of gender injustice has been done in the movie.
How did it all start?
In 2017, a prominent actress was intercepted in her car while she was on her way to a film promotion and sexually assaulted in Kochi by seven men where her co-star, another prominent actor, Dileep, was involved. The survivor, who later identified herself in her social media post, registered a case and continues her struggle for justice even today.
This incident sparked a debate and resulted in the formation of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), where eighteen of her colleagues decided to support her and formed the organization as a form of solidarity. The Hema Committee was formed in the aftermath of this incident when members of WCC met the then Chief Minister Vijayan Pinarayi to submit a petition seeking certain reliefs.
Why did it take so long to publish after its submission back in 2019?
The ruling Left Government, headed by the two-time elected Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is in soup over its attempt to delay the publishing of the Hema Committee report event after it was submitted in 2019. The opposition accuses it of shielding the accused as CPM’s actor-turned-MLA Mukesh from Kollam has been recently booked by the Maradu Police on non-bailable charges over his alleged rape on the basis of a complaint filed by a female actor after the report was made public on August 19, 2024.
What is the aftermath?
The #MeToo campaign has flared up in the Malayalam industry, where a number of famous directors, actors and producers are being accused of gross sexual misconduct. With enough pressure mounting on the ruling Government, the Government has ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations. Although M Mukesh and other prominent actors have been booked, CPM’s stance concerning his resignation has failed to please even the CPI national leadership. As the allegations surfaced, the entire Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) resigned.
What other industries can learn from it?
Despite the criticism by the opposition and the stakeholders, the effort by the Kerala Government seems commendable as it has been the first time that a government in the country undertook such a novel initiative to look into the problems that are faced by women in the entertainment industry by considering the Hema Committee report. While the Vishaka guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the year 1997 acted as a pioneer in the field of ensuring women’s safety in the workplace by preventing workplace sexual harassment, the Hema Committee Report can have the same impact on women’s safety in the entertainment industry.
Not only the Malayalam film industry but other industries, including Bollywood, and Tollywood, among others, should retrospect and come forward with similar initiatives and address this much-awaited problem. The entire controversy also leads to the opening of another significant debate on the aspect of labour rights and the wage gap based on gender. It can no longer be restricted to mere social issues but assumes the proportion of an economic issue that affects the participation of women in the labour force.
FAQ
What is the Hema Committee Report?
The Government of Kerala has appointed an Expert Committee to study and report on various issues faced by women in Malayalam cinema and to suggest solutions for the same. The Expert Committee, popularly known as the Hema Committee Report after its Chairperson, Justice K. Hema, the former Judge of the High Court of Kerala, consists of three members, including the chairperson. The two other members were Smt. T. Sarada a veteran actor in the Malayalam Film Industry and Smt. K.B. Valsalakumari, who has served as the Principal Secretary to the Government of Kerala.
What are its findings?
The report highlights seventeen key challenges faced by the women actors in the industry which chiefly include sexual harassment, lack of equal remuneration, seeking sexual favours in return for chances to work in the film, unauthorized and illegal banning of individuals working in different categories of cinema, silencing of women under threat of ban from work in cinema. Other significant issues faced by women also include lack of opportunity, lack of basic amenities like toilets and changing rooms, etc.
What are its recommendations?
The Committee recommended the mandatory establishment of an Internal Complaints Committee with members from the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) and the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). An independent tribunal for handling cases of harassment and discrimination in the cinema industry and signing of written contracts between employer and employee has also been suggested. Besides, it has also suggested a few measures that the industry can embrace to mainstream gender justice in the content of the movies.
How did it all start?
In 2017, a prominent actress was on her way to a film promotion when she was sexually assaulted in Kochi by seven men where her co-star, Dileep, was involved. The survivor registered a case and continues her struggle for justice even today. This incident resulted in the formation of Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) where some of her colleagues decided to support her and formed the organization as a form of solidarity. The Hema Committee was formed in the aftermath of this incident when members of WCC met the then Chief Minister Vijayan Pinarayi to submit a petition seeking certain reliefs.
Why did it take so long to publish after its submission back in 2019?
The ruling Left Government, headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is in trouble over its delay in the publishing of the report event after it was submitted in 2019. The opposition accuses it of shielding the accused as CPM’s actor-turned-MLA Mukesh from Kollam has been recently booked by the Maradu Police on non-bailable charges over his alleged rape on the basis of a complaint filed by a female actor after the report was made public on August 19, 2024.
What is the aftermath?
The #MeToo campaign has flared up in the Malayalam industry where a number of famous directors, actors and producers are being accused of gross sexual misconduct. With enough pressure mounting on the ruling Government, the Government has ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations. As the allegations surfaced, the entire Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) resigned.
What other industries can learn from it?
Despite the criticism by the opposition and the stakeholders for the delay, it has been the first time that a government in the country undertook such a novel initiative to look into the problems that are faced by the women in the entertainment industry. While the Vishaka guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the year 1997 acted as a pioneer in the field of ensuring women safety in the workplace by preventing workplace sexual harassment, the Hema Committee Report has the potential to have the same impact for women safety in the entertainment industry.
