Mollywood: Sexual Exploitation of Women in Malayalam Film Industry | Thiruvananthapuram News

Thiruvananthapuram: The report of the Justice Hema Commission, constituted to study the working conditions and related problems of women in Malayalam film industry and filed with the government in 2019 but kept secret for nearly five years, was finally made public on Monday. The 235-page report — 65 pages of which were redacted to protect individuals’ privacy — based on statements and testimonies from a number of key witnesses, made shocking observations about widespread sexual exploitation and blatant disregard for women’s rights in the industry and the toxic male dominance that fueled it.
The report painted a sordid picture of humiliating ‘compromises’ women are forced to make to survive in the film industry, including the practice of casting bench and granting sexual favours to those in the industry’s upper echelons, or risking a premature end to their careers – where the pay disparity between male and female performers was vast and basic safeguards such as an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) existed in name only.
The report of the three-member committee — Supreme Court Justice (retd) K Hema, yesteryear star Sharada and retired IAS officer KB Valsala Kumari — was released following a Supreme Court observation that its contents should be discussed by civil society to address and remedy issues faced by women in the industry. The committee was initially formed at the request of the Women in the cinema Collective, following the February 2017 kidnapping and sexual assault of a leading female actor, a case that is still in court, in which well-known actor Dileep is the eighth accused. “During the investigation, we came to know that the Malayalam film industry is controlled by certain producers, directors, actors — all men. They control the entire Malayalam film industry and they dominate other individuals working in cinema,” the report said.
The report lists at least 17 types of exploitation experienced by women working in 30 categories within the industry. Sexual demands placed on women to work in cinema and opportunities to work in the industry, sexual harassmentAbuse/sexual assault of women in the workplace, along with transportation and accommodation issues are a few of them. “The offer to act or do another job in the cinema comes with a demand for sexual favors for a woman. Many witnesses pointed out that in no other job is there a demand for sexual favors to get the job. In the cinema, the situation is completely different. At the beginning and when entering the film industry, there is a demand for sex. Therefore, women in the cinema do not feel safe to go to the workplace all alone,” the report said.