New Delhi: The long-awaited report by the Justice Hema Committee was issued on Monday, shedding light on the widespread and extremely concerning sexual harassment experiences faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. According to the report, which was released to the public under the RTI Act, there are allegations of abuse and exploitation that show a shadowy aspect of the industry. After the 2017 assault case involving actor Dileep, the Justice Hema Committee was established in 2019 to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in Malayalam cinema.
Here are some key points highlighted in the report: Frequent Harassment Among the most disturbing parts of the report is the finding that some women experienced unwanted approaches even before beginning their work in the field. Among the many forms of harassment that female performers experienced, the report notes that drunk people would sometimes knock on their hotel doors. In spite of these terrifying events, many victims were afraid to tell the authorities about the abuse; many were too scared to call the police.
According to the report, "Many women have stated that knocking will not be polite or decent but, they repeatedly bang at the door, by force," as quoted by PTI. "The offer to act or for doing any other job in cinema comes to a woman coupled with demand for sexual favours," the committee said. The industry often fired women who would not "compromise" and dehumanised those who did comply b.