Female actors are being harassed in Malayalam film industry, says Justice Hema Committee report

The report highlighted the widespread nature of the problem and raised concerns about the safety and wellbeing of female professionals in the sector.

The much-awaited 2019 report by the Justice Hema Committee, the government-appointed panel that investigated the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, has revealed explosive accounts of harassment, exploitation and abuse faced by women.

Five years after the report was submitted to the government, a copy of the report was provided to the media under the RTI Act.

In a series of shocking and scandalous revelations, the report found that female actors have faced harassment, including cases in the film industry where drunken individuals have knocked on their bedroom doors.

Many of those who experienced sexual harassment were reluctant to report it to the police out of fear.

“The sky is full of mysteries, with the twinkling stars and the beautiful moon. But scientific research has shown that the stars do not twinkle, and the moon does not look beautiful either,” the report said.

“Don’t trust what you see; even salt looks like sugar,” the report’s opening lines read.

According to the report, female actors who are willing to compromise are given code names, while those who do not are sent off.

The commission said it was “shocked by the stories of sexual harassment” told to it by women working in the Malayalam film industry.

“The offer to act or do some other job in cinema comes with the demand for sexual favors for a woman. As I said, the woman is asked to adapt and compromise, and is asked to submit to sexual demands,” the report said.

The panel report also alleged that the Malayalam film industry is under the control of a ‘criminal gang’.

The report explicitly states that the police should report crimes committed in the sector. However, many people do not fear for their lives.

The panel was set up following the 2017 actress sexual assault case involving actor Dileep, to look into issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in Malayalam cinema.