Sri Reddy casting couch row results in Tollywood adopting stringent measures to counter sexual harassment

Days after Sri Reddy’s casting couch controversy created a stir in Tollywood and opened up a can of worms, Telugu film industry has finally announced various preventive measures and detailed guidelines to create a safe working place for women. [caption id=“attachment_4429827” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Sri Reddy. Facebook[/caption] “The industry has taken cognizance of the recent developments in the area of women’s safety and has decided collectively to deal with the matter with utmost urgency and in a holistic manner. There have been systems in place within the various organisations of the industry to deal with complaints of sexual harassment etc, and several cases have been dealt with as well. However, in recent times, a few people have chosen alternative platforms to air their grievances, and this has caused some degree of concern within the industry,” read an official statement. The industry has now collectively decided to implement a few short term and long term measures to ensure that sexual harassment within the industry is dealt with ‘swiftly and justly.’ After Reddy staged a semi-nude protest in front of the Movie Artistes Association (MAA) premises, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the Government of Telangana and the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and demanded a comprehensive report within four weeks. NHRC had urged the industry to set up a proper grievance redressal system to act on sexual harassment complaints. Now, the indutsry has announced that it will set up a dedicated panel against sexual harassment comprising 50 percent of the non-industry members to give it greater transparency and integrity. The members would also include doctors, NGOs, psychologists, educationists and ex-government officials to name a few. A team of legal experts is already working on the creating the legal framework and the guidelines for the panel. “We have already issued guidelines to the producers’ council, MAA, TFDA (Telugu Film Directors Association) and other bodies to undertake measures to enhance women’s safety including setting up of CASH (Committee Against Sexual Harassment) committees as per Vishakha guidelines,” the statement added. The industry is currently in the process of conducting various meetings with women groups within the industry to understand in greater depth their specific issues following which more concrete policies are expected to be framed. “We have also instructed all the industry unions to provide minimum toilet facilities and decent changing rooms to junior artists and character artists. We have also insisted on organising only in-camera auditions and in the presence of at least one woman. Dedicated helplines via email, phone and SMS have also been set up so that women can quickly approach the panel with any complaints,” the statement read. The industry has also put in place several identification processes to enable licensing of model coordinators. Counseling sessions have also been planned for new actors who make their debut in the industry.