Kerala HC Issues Notice To AMMA On WCC Plea Seeking Redressal Mechanism To Deal With Sexual Harassment

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), the state government and the Department of Women and Child Development on the petition moved by Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) demanding the establishment of a grievance redressal mechanism in the AMMA to deal with cases of sexual harassment.

A bench of Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar issued a notice seeking a response within a week.

“…let notice before admission returnable in a week be issued,” ordered the bench.

The WCC and its president actor Rima Kallingal Rajan moved the high court where its advocate Santhosh Mathew argued that the failure of AMMA to implement a grievance redressal mechanism for its members against sexual harassment at the workplace leaves its members helpless and without any adequate remedy against sexual harassment directed against them in the professional context.

This omission, it said, is striking at a time when revelations of widespread sexual assault and harassment of women in film industries across the country have come out.

The petition is now listed for October 24.