Ashbin Krishna K. K, Assistant Professor, Christ Academy Institute of Law, Bengaluru
ABSTRACT
The Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) was designed to provide legal safeguards against sexual harassment in the workplace. While it has seen success in several formal sectors, its implementation and effectiveness in informal industries like the Indian film industry remain questionable. The film industry’s freelance nature, lack of structured employment relationships, and entrenched power hierarchies create a challenging environment for enforcing the POSH Act’s provisions.
This paper critically evaluates the effectiveness of the POSH Act within the film industry, with particular focus on the Hema Committee Report, which was commissioned to investigate issues of sexual harassment in the Malayalam film sector. The report brought to light systemic problems, including the absence of formal complaint mechanisms and the prevalence of exploitation. Through an analysis of the report’s findings and the challenges of enforcing the POSH Act in such an informal and influential sector, this paper highlights the gaps in the current legal framework.
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