THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prominent personalities, including Arundhati Roy, have asked the LDF government to take a 360-degree-approach to fulfil the purpose of the Hema Committee report.
Other dignitaries, including Indira Jaisingh, Vrinda Grover, T J S George, Aparna Sen, Prakash Raj, Swara Bhaskar, Sushant Singh, T M Krishna, Nivedita Menon, Prof Ira Bhaskar, Anita Nair, Onir, Kavita Krishnan, and Leena Manimekalai, also called upon the government to urgently formulate a draft policy or law that would address the multiple issues identified by the committee and the related representations made by WCC over the years.
“Among the legitimate demands are zero-tolerance for harassment, a guarantee of basic facilities like toilets on sets, introduction and enforcement of contracts specifying salaries and terms of employment, the improvement of pay scales and the reduction in wage disparities. The government must also ensure the safety of women who have spoken to the committee and in public about their experiences,” they said.
“This must include an assurance that they will not be bullied into filing police complaints if they do not wish to do so. The government must offer counselling to all women who speak out, irrespective of the path they choose. The government should also invest in an awareness-building programme to sensitise the public and media, so that the testimonies of women who have suffered sexual exploitation are not doubted and their voices do not go unheard simply because they cannot or do not wish to fight long- drawn out cases,” the personalities said.
They also appealed to the state government to assist women who face retaliation for speaking the truth.
"Speaking their truth is also a form of justice and there should be no retaliation for it. The state government’s reaction to the Hema Committee's findings, as well as media coverage, have both placed an inordinate focus on the sexual misdemeanours and crimes described in the report, to the virtual exclusion of the considerable space devoted in its pages to discussing working conditions in the industry, lack of contracts, pay disparities and so on."
"The only government action that has followed the release of the report on August 19 is the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the allegations being made by women who have come forward since then to publicly speak of their experiences of sexual harassment and violence in the industry. This move has given a further impetus to the media’s selective coverage," it said.
"The inevitable implication of such selectiveness is that addressing the underlying causes of violence – namely, inequality and discrimination – is less important than the violence itself. Further, the government has made no effort to sensitise the media and public to the possibility that women with legitimate complaints of crimes may not necessarily wish to explore legal options for multiple, completely acceptable reasons. In the absence of such sensitisation, we believe the present atmosphere in the state is veering towards doubting the allegations of any woman who opts not to file a police complaint after going public with her grievances," it added.
The statement also criticised the pressure inserted on survivors to lodge police complaint. "Worse, it has been brought to our attention that some women in the industry who have shared their stories with the public and media are facing extreme pressure from the police to lodge official complaints. This is a deeply disturbing development," the statement said.
"In all cases of sexual crimes, a survivor’s agency and mental health must be prioritised above all else. The government must strictly instruct the police and the SIT to not bulldoze women, to treat them with consideration, and to act in their best interests," the statement further read.