The Kerala government’s response to the Justice Hema Committee report — which revealed the horrific extent of the systemic misogyny and sexual harassment faced by women in the Malayalam film industry — was to propose a ‘cinema conclave’ involving all stakeholders to ensure women’s safety. The proposal, however, has left many women who deposed to the committee with more troubling questions than answers.
Actor Parvathy, a founding member of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), told The News Minute in an interview that the women involved have so far been given no information as to what (or who) a ‘conclave’ would entail. “If the government is forming a conclave, what measures would be taken to protect the survivors from the perpetrators who might also be at this conclave? How can anyone expect the survivors to openly speak about their issues in their presence? I am not asking this on behalf of the WCC. I am asking this as Parvathy, as someone who has deposed in front of the Hema Committee,” she said.
Parvathy added that if the conclave was going to be a sweeping effort “just for the sake of it,” the women would recognise it from a distance and it would not be appreciated.
She also pointed out that the WCC had done two studies and even submitted a ‘cinema policy’ document to the government in 2021, and the government could refer to it if they were indeed interested in solutions.
“There is a document that we have worked on, which is called Shift Focus. that was co-created with the organisation called Sakhee. There’s another one called the ‘Cinema Policy’ document, which was given as per invitation to the Minister for Culture and Youth Affairs. It states clearly what the problem is and what the solutions could be,” she said.
Parvathy asserted that she does not believe in the sanctity of such meetings as women are often attacked here. “There have been several instances where women who speak up have been slut-shamed and attacked verbally. On top of all the surviving that we have to do, we have to still sit opposite these people and be gaslit into believing that we just weren't grateful enough. And we don't wish to be put through that. If there is no proper agenda towards it, then it is extremely suspicious as to why this is being done,” she added.
She added that the Kerala government should not be defensive and should take the report seriously. “We have begged, crawled and groveled for this report to come out. As a collective, we've always been there to support the government to find a solution. I would like to see some clear intentions from the government that it will be a timely solution and it will be fast tracked,” she said.