Karnataka Women Commission Meeting: Recently, the report of Hema Committee which described the status of women and actresses in Malayalam cinema was much discussed. Now, to deal with sexual harassment and other misconduct in Kannada cinema, Karnataka Women’s Commission organized a meeting with Kannada Film Chamber.
It is said that earlier Kannada Film Chamber had not decided to form any committee for issues like sexual exploitation. However, Karnataka State Women’s Commission has questioned why it is not possible to take any action on this issue or form any committee.
The commission gave 15 days time to Kannada cinema
The commission has given 15 days to the Kannada film industry. The commission has asked the Kannada film industry to come up with a POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) plan in 15 days. Lankesh, president of Film Industry for Rights and Equality, said that the commission will consider it and can also form a panel like the Hema Committee.
A small step in the fight for justice for women
Kavita Lankesh further said, ‘This is a small step in the fight to get justice for women in the film industry. And today it really felt like we were in the fight even for this small gain.’ Apart from this, Lankesh also informed that the Karnataka State Women’s Commission has also decided to conduct a survey for the women present in the industry. Kavita Lankesh further said, ‘Without a helpline number, women or workers, who are also exploited, had no place to go. Now, after all the pressure and encouragement after the release of the Hema Committee report, we have at least come here.’
17 point agenda of the commission
Apart from this, the Karnataka Women’s Commission has presented a 17-point agenda. Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce Director N M Suresh said, ‘Once they send these 17 demands in the form of a letter, we will call a meeting among ourselves and discuss further. The thing is, no woman in the Kannada industry has come forward to us to make a formal complaint against anyone so far. Nor will any complaint filed by women from the industry be handed over to the commission, so we have to see if we really need a committee like the Hema Committee, we will discuss these things soon.’
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