The Women and Child Development department will bring out guidelines for implementing legislation related to ensuring safety of women at workplace in the film industry, Minister for Women and Child Development Veena George has said.
She was speaking after inaugurating a workshop organised by the Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation (KSWDC) on Thursday on ‘Gender inclusivity and professionalism in Malayalam cinema’ in connection with International Women’s Day that falls on March 8.
The draft guidelines will be vetted by the Culture and Law departments.
The entertainment industry, the Minister said, came within the purview of the Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment Act, 2013. The guidelines would clearly define workplace in the context of the film industry, be it in the context of production, pre-production, shoot, or post-production, she said.
Increasing the presence of women not only in front of the camera but also behind it was important to empowerment of women. They had to be equipped to realise this objective. The government would make all kinds of interventions so that women could lead their lives with self-confidence, the Minister said.
Women’s presence
Actor and activist Amala Akkineni who was the chief guest, in her online address, said the presence of women in the workforce was imperative across industries. Discrimination and outdated attitudes, she underlined, were simply unacceptable. Women had a huge role to play in driving this conversation and the shift to a diverse, equal, inclusive, safe, and professional workplace. The film industry was not a normal workplace and the number of women in it was very small, and required women to be away from home and be in closed spaces. However, the law was a must. It should be strong and swift so that patriarchy and systemic violence could be checked.
KSWDC chairperson K.C. Rosakutty presided over the function. Women and Child Development Principal Secretary Rani George, KSWDC managing director Bindu V.C., and representatives of various film organisations, including the Women in Cinema Collective, were present.
Technical session
The inaugural at Mascot Hotel was followed by an online technical session on ‘Labour Code and provisions in the code for audio-visual workers.’ The panelists for the session were Varkiachen Pettah, a human resource professional, and Vinod Kumar K., Deputy Labour Commissioner. In his talk, Mr. Varkiachen spoke in detail about the Labour Code, and the two laws — the Cine Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981, and the Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act that were included in the new labour codes and the challenges in their implementation.
