Tamil Actors' Association Proposes 5-year Ban Of Sexual Offenders In Kollywood

Hema Committee report revealing rampant sexual exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry was made public by the Kerala government on August 19, and since then several complaints have been lodged against leading film personalities of Mollywood. Days later, Tamil actor Vishal, who serves as Secretary of the South Indian Artistes’ Association (SIAA) assured the celebs of the Tamil film industry that Nadigar Sangam will set up a committee similar to the Hema Committee.

The actor has fulfilled the promise it seems as on Wednesday Nadigar Sangam, the union representing film, television, and stage actors in the Tamil cinema, held a meeting on September 4 and said that the Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC) will now look over the cases related to sexual harassment or other related offences in the industry.

Nadigar Sangam to ban perpetrators of sexual offences for 5 years

During a press meeting, the body said that the Gender Sensitisation and Internal Committee would provide all legal help to the victims of sexual harassment in the Tamil film industry. It also added that if a woman comes forward with a complaint regarding sexual harassment or other related offences, it must be thoroughly investigated. And if the complaint is found to be true, a recommendation would be made to the producers' association to ban the perpetrators for five years from the film industry.

According to the resolution, a warning would initially issued to the alleged preparators after which action will follow.

How can the victim approach Gender Sensitisation and Internal Committee?

The Committee said the victims can register their complaints with the actors' committee through a dedicated phone number that has already been established. At the same time, a new email ID has also been created for this purpose.

The Nadigar Sangam also said it would provide full support to those who want to lodge complaints against content on YouTube channels.

However, they requested the victims to approach the Committee before speaking directly to the media about their complaints.

All you need to know about #MeToo in Mollywood

Kerala Police have registered FIRs against popular Malayalam figures including Siddique, Ranjith, Mukesh M, who is also a sitting CPI-M MLA, Jayasurya and V.K. Prakash. They all have been accused of sexual misconduct by Malayalam actresses. SIT is currently probing the cases against them.