Hema Committee effect: Now, leading ladies of Bengali film industry demand similar panel in state
Mamata Banerjee
Following the release of the Hema Committee report that has detailed the widespread sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, many actresses 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 including prominent actresses, associated with the Women’s Forum For Screen Workers, have listed a charter of demands to ensure workplace safety.
Kerala became the first state in India to constitute a committee for investigating instances of harassment and exploitation of women in their film industry after it was rocked by an assault case involving an actress back in 2017.
The demands have been shared as a post by several prominent actresses of the Bengali film industry including Paoli Dam, Parno Mitra and Ritabhari Chakraborty.
Some of the demands listed in the post 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.
More than 100 women have signed the letter including Aparna Sen, Anuradha Ray, Swastika Mukherjee Rupa Ganguly, Sohini Sarkar, Chaitali Dasgupta, Paoli Dam, Sohini Sengupta, Bidipta Chakraborty, Shakuntala Barua, and Medhatithi Banerjee.
It is important to note that 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 brought the people of the state on the streetsto protest and demand swiftjustice against those involved.
