Parvathy attended the Soorya Festival in Thiruvananthapuram. Hema committee was constituted by Kerala government in 2017 following the actress assault case and pressure by WCC. The committee was constituted with an aim to study the problems faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. The committee had gathered testimonies from many female actors about gender discrimination and other issues in the film industry. After compiling and analysing the testimonies and interviews, the committee submitted a report to the government in 2018, with findings and recommendations that need to be implemented in the film industry for the safety of women. However, the government has hesitated to publish the report despite demands from media, WCC and the public.
Now, actor and WCC member Parvathy Thiruvoth has criticised the government for not publishing the Hema committee report. Parvathy said that she expects the committee report to come out by the next election. “Let’s wait for the election time. Suddenly the report is gonna come out. That’s my prediction. Suddenly it’s going to be a very women friendly government,” said Parvathy at an interactive session at Soorya Festival in Thiruvananthapuram.
When asked about the secretive nature of the report, Parvathy said if the report comes out, many idols will collapse. “Many idols that we worship might collapse if that report comes out. But apparently our lives are more dispensable than we thought. Their egos and position are more important,” said Parvathy.
Parvathy also responded to the Kerala High Court’s order to implement ICC in all film sets and production houses. The actor mentioned how Bollywood implemented POSH act in all production houses within thirty days where as in the Malayalam film industry, powerful people ignored the act and the need to implement ICC for two years.
“It took Bollywood 30 days to implement the POSH act in production houses. Here we have to fight for two and a half years to make them say they’ll implement ICC after the High court has ordered it,” said Parvathy.
“Now, the court has passed the ruling that an ICC needs to be in place in every movie set. But imagine it took two years for the court to give us what is rightfully ours and in those two years, powerful people in the industry were against it. So the question is who’s benefiting from the lack of a safe work environment or the lack of an ICC. If I cannot call out the person who has assaulted or disrespected me, it must have been beneficial for someone. This is why they were so adamant to not make it happen,” said Parvathy.
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