Following the release of the Hema Committee report detailing widespread sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, woman actors in West Bengal have urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to constitute a similar committee in the state. Nearly 100 women from the Bengali film industry, associated with the Women’s Forum For Screen Workers, have listed a charter of demands to ensure workplace safety. After the actor assault case in 2017, Kerala became the first state in the country to constitute a committee for investigating instances of harassment and exploitation of women in their film industry.
Some of the demands include strict adherence to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, 2013, which mandates safe workspaces for women employees and the formation of Internal Committees (IC), hiring intimacy coordinators on sets for overseeing intimate scenes, and 24/7 helpline for victims and survivors of sexual harassment in the industry.
“It is indeed striking that some of us are yet to take a stand against the recurring incidents of sexual abuse/ harassment/ violence within our own workplaces. As women working in the Bengali film, web platform and television industry, we face various kinds of sexual abuse every day; as well as regularly hear of the rampant abuse faced by women, children and those of marginal identities,” the letter states.
The charter has been signed by over a hundred women from the Bengali film industry including Aparna Sen, Anuradha Ray, Swastika Mukherjee Rupa Ganguly, Sohini Sarkar, Chaitali Dasgupta, Paoli Dam, Sohini Sengupta, Bidipta Chakraborty, Shakuntala Barua, and Medhatithi Banerjee. Copies of the list of demands have also been sent to the state-run Tele Academy, the Eastern India Motion Picture Association (EIMPA), Federation of Cine Workers and Technicians of Eastern India and the West Bengal Motion Picture Artistes Forum. The demands come at a time when the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar hospital earlier this month has triggered massive protests across West Bengal.
The complete list of demands are as follows:
Ensure hiring of intimacy coordinators on sets for overseeing intimate scenes. “This has become non-negotiable in the wake of the publication of the Hema Committee Report 2024 about the pervasive culture of sexual abuse in the Malayalam film industry. The Committee’s findings indicate the extent and depth of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry in India. As workers of the Bengali film, web platform, and television industry, we must say that ours is no exception,” the charter adds.
Gender based violence (GBV) in the workplace should be addressed through the use of international regulations like the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 190.
Using the Ministry of Labour and Employment guidelines for the definition of an ‘audio-visual worker’ as provided in a response in Rajya Sabha to a starred question regarding ‘Social Security Provisions for Film and Television Industry Workers’
A 24/7 helpline for victims and survivors of sexual harassment in the industry.
Conducting regular awareness initiatives so that workers have a clear knowledge with regard to their rights to a safe workplace and the procedures available for seeking justice when that right is denied to them.
The charter also demands an inquiry into:
Whether any statutory structure has been established for workers in accordance with the PoSH Act. These include regular orientation workshops on the Act, adoption of the widest possible definition for ‘workplace’, Constitution of ICs, time-bound responses from the IC, maintaining the confidentiality of complainants and respondents, empathetic handling of slander, proper mechanism for whistleblowing regarding demands for sexual favours, and the creation of safe spaces to speak out about sexual harassment.
Whether the guidelines provided by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act are being adhered to with regard to male and female artists below the age of 18.
Bengali actor Ritabhari Chakraborty, in a strongly worded social media post, said “So many reports that came up [in the Hema Committee’s findings] are similar to experiences I have had or some women actors I know have had. The hero/producer/directors with such filthy mind and behaviour continue to work without facing any consequences of their actions and are even holding candles for the RG Kar victim as if they think of women as anything better than flesh.”
The actor also urged fellow women actors to “stand against these monsters”. She said, “Let’s unmask these predators. I know you are scared of losing your part or never being cast as most of these men are influential. But how long do we stay quiet? Do we have no responsibility towards the young actresses that come to the business with dreams and are made to believe this is nothing but a sugar coated brothel?”