The last few weeks have been action-packed for the Malayalam film industry. The Kerala government had constituted the Justice Hema Committee in 2017 to examine issues of sexual harassment and other grievances in the Malayalam film industry. The Hema Committee Report (Hema Report) released by the Kerala government last month uncovers disturbing details about sexual harassment and other challenges faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. The report triggered strong reactions across the country.
The Hema Report highlighted the open secret of casting couch in the industry. This is not unique to the Malayalam film industry and is prevalent across the entertainment industry in India and overseas.
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) was enacted to prevent sexual abuse of women at workplaces. POSH Act provides for the setting up of an Internal Committee (IC) at every workplace to investigate matters of sexual harassment. However, as the Hema Report uncovered, setting up an IC may be futile as its members could be influenced or coerced.
While workplaces in India are required to have policies in place against sexual harassment, women seldom use them to complain for fear of reprisals, the stigma associated, etc. Those who finally do gather the courage often end up weighed down by years of legal process and career stagnation.
What’s the solution?
The one immediate solution is that the POSH laws are strictly implemented. The entertainment industry has been a laggard as producers and production houses often evade accountability by claiming that the nature of their contracts and the absence of a clear-cut workplace exempts them from POSH laws.
The term ‘workplace’ is not restricted to only a traditional workplace such as an office. On the contrary, film production sets or units, temporary as well as permanent, are covered under the ambit of a workplace. Workplace also includes any place outside the movie set such as coffee shops, bars, make-up rooms, houses and the virtual world. If harassment occurs during a shoot, the principal employer (generally the producer or co-producers collectively) is liable to conduct an enquiry under POSH laws.
In 2022, in response to a series of Public Interest Litigations, the Kerala High Court observed, in the context of the movie industry, that the production unit of each film serves as the workplace for the individuals involved. Each production unit must establish an IC if they employ 10 or more workers. If the number of workers is less than 10, such workers are entitled to lodge complaints with the Local Committee set up in every district to investigate matters of sexual harassment under the POSH laws.
Further, the aggrieved woman can also file a police complaint where the alleged misconduct constitutes an offense under criminal laws or the Information Technology Act, 2000, ensuring that both civil and criminal remedies are pursued for justice.
It can be concluded that law will only be able to protect women, and women will only feel empowered to speak up, when the law is implemented at every workplace and there is speedy prosecution of those involved in acts of sexual harassment.
In most cases, either no action is taken against the perpetrators, or they are released on bail in a matter of weeks or less or allowed a free run until their anticipatory bail pleas are allowed by courts, and the complainant is subjected to vicious online attacks, especially if she is a prominent figure.
Bringing transparency to reports such as the Hema Report and taking swift action through fast-track courts is the only way to instil fear in the minds of the perpetrators. Further, as highlighted in the Hema Report, the conditions of work need to improve for women and basic facilities like changing rooms, rest rooms and toilets, secure transport facilities must be provided at every workplace.
We cannot let go the opportunity that the brave whistleblowers have presented to us for a clean-up of the system.
Vaidyanathan is Managing Partner; Singh is Partner, BTG Advaya