After several members of the film industry have been accused of sexual harassment and misconduct since October 5, 11 women filmmakers said they will not work with proven offenders as a mark of their support to the #MeToo movement in India.
The directors include Alankrita Shrivastava, Konkana Sen Sharma, Gauri Shinde, Meghna Gulzar, Nandita Das, Zoya Akhtar, Nitya Mehra, Reema Kagti, Shonali Bose, Ruchi Narain and Kiran Rao.
“As women and filmmakers, we come together to support the #MeTooIndia movement,” the filmmakers said in a note. “We are in complete solidarity with the women who have come forward with honest accounts of harassment and assault. Our respect and admiration to them as their courage has started a revolution of welcome change.”
The women said they intended to help create a safe and equal atmosphere for everyone in the workplace. “We have also taken a stand to not work with proven offenders,” the note added. “We urge all our peers in the industry to do the same.”
Since October 5, several women have used social media to make allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against several journalists, media professionals, actors, writers and others. Actor Nana Patekar has been accused by actress Tanushree Dutta of harassment during a film shoot in 2008. Actor Alok Nath is accused of rape and sexual harassment. While directors Sajid Khan and Vikas Bahl have been accused of sexual harassment, actor and filmmaker Rajat Kapoor has been accused of sexual misconduct.
Among media professionals, Union minister and former editor MJ Akbar, The Times of India’s Hyderabad resident editor KR Sreenivas, former Times of India executive editor Gautam Adhikari and journalist Mayank Jain are among the dozens of men accused of sexual harassment.
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