After Producers Guild, Screenwriters Association sets up committee to address sexual harassment

A day after Producers Guild of India announced that they had set up a special committee to look into issues pertaining to sexual harassment at the workplace, Mumbai Mirror has reported that Screenwriters Association (SWA) is following suit with a committee of their own. [caption id=“attachment_5367041” align=“alignnone” width=“825”].jpg) Logo of ScreenWriters Association[/caption] As per the aforementioned report, SWA has formed an internal committee that will address issues of sexual misconduct. Filmmaker Ketki Pandit, who headed a similar committee at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), will be chairing it. We are formulating policies to safeguard our employees and members while also committing to support them in every way,” she informed the daily, adding that the committee was geared not only to protect women but also adhere to a gender-neutral policy that would investigate harassment claims against men, women and the LGBTQI community. Apart from Pandit, screenwriters Atika Chohan, Bikas Ranjan Mishra, Ishita Moitra, Jyoti Kapoor and filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan are also a part of the committee. Moreover, Dr Anagha Sarpotdar is the external member. Filmmaker Vinta Nanda, who recently opened up about a sexual assault incident , alleging that actor Alok Nath had abused her nearly two decades back, had reached out to SWA with a complaint against the actor. Pandit said that they were drafting a response to Nanda’s complaint.