The Hema Commission report to address issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in the Malayalam film industry has recommended key provisions to prohibit illegal and offending acts against women in the sector.
The provisions to be included in the proposed Kerala Cine Employers and Employees (Regulation) Act 2020 have emerged from the Right to Information (RTI) application filed by The Hindu.
Six queries
Six queries were posed before the Department of Cultural Affairs, including whether any person/s had mentioned the names of any actors/producers/any other persons connected to the Malayalam film industry, who had sexually/physically abused them in the pretext of providing opportunities in movies. The reply said: “The State Information Commission as per order no. 236(1)/2020/SIC dated 22.10.2020 has ordered that the Hema Committee’s report should not be disclosed to the public.”
The provisions to prohibit illegal, offending acts mentioned in the summary of recommendations stated that no person shall be called for audition through social media or any other mode, unless he registers as a producer before an appropriate authority. “No person shall create nuisance to any women through social media. No person shall harass women in cinema directly or indirectly through fan club/social media/any other mode,” it said.
The Commission recommended that no producer shall refuse to execute agreement, if the employee insists on it. “No person shall commit any act to prohibit any other person working in cinema. No producer shall deny any basic facility to any women in cinema. No producer shall provide unsafe and insecure accommodation or transport to a women in cinema. No producer shall engage drivers with criminal background. No person shall make vulgar or double-meaning comments on women and no producer shall deny minimum remuneration to the assistant directors,” it said.
A query seeking details of the recommendations by a three-member panel constituted by the government to formulate an implementation plan for the Hema Commission report elicited the reply: “The government has not constituted any three-member panel to examine, formulate, implement the recommendations of the Hema Committee”.