Amid a '#MeToo' storm in the Malayalam film industry, actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar on Wednesday said the Kerala government-appointed Justice K Hema Committee was "much needed" to break the abuse faced by female professionals in cinema. Taking to her official X account, she said the "MeToo" moment prevailing in "our industry breaks you" and urged women not to compromise.
The Justice Hema Committee was constituted after the 2017 actress assault case and its report was made public last week. The 235-page report notes instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.
"Kudos to the women who have stood their ground and emerged victorious," Ms Sundar wrote in a long post on X.
"Abuse, asking for sexual favors, and expecting women to compromise to gain a foothold or accelerate their careers exist in every field. Why is a woman alone expected to go through the grind? Although men too face it, it's marginally women who bear the brunt," she added.
The fear of being shamed, victim blaming, and questions like "Why did you do it?" or "What made you do it?" break her, she said.
The victim might be a stranger to you or me, but she needs our "support, an ear to listen, and emotional backing" from us all, Ms Sundar, a BJP leader, said.
"When questioning why she didn't come out earlier, we need to consider her circumstances – not everyone is privileged to speak out," she added.
Khushbu Sundar On Father's Abuse
Khushbu Sundar said some people ask her what took her so long to speak about her father’s abuse.
"I agree I should have spoken earlier. But what happened to me, was not a compromise to build my career. I was abused at the hands of the person who was supposed to provide me the strongest arms to hold me if I fell," she wrote
💔 This moment of #MeToo prevailing in our industry breaks you. Kudos to the women who have stood their ground and emerged victorious. ✊ The #HemaCommittee was much needed to break the abuse. But will it?
Abuse, asking for sexual favors, and expecting women to compromise to…— KhushbuSundar (@khushsundar) August 28, 2024
Ms Sundar, who has been a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW), said last year that she was sexually abused by her father at the age of 8.
When she was 15 years old, she started revolting against her father who then left the family in the lurch, the actor-politician said at a town hall last year.
Khushbu Sundar's Warning To A Producer
Khushbu Sundar also spoke to NDTV on Wednesday and said women have to stand up, come out and speak up. Asked whether she faced any such instances, she said that there was a very stray incident when she had just entered South Indian cinema.
"There was a producer who approached me because I was here (the industry) alone and I didn't have a Godfather. So probably this producer must have thought that I would succumb to the pressure," she said.
"He gave me kind of a hint when he walked into my makeup room when I was shooting for a Telugu film. I removed my slippers and told him I wear 41 (the size). Do you want to take a whack right here or do you want me to hit you in front of the unit? And that put him in place," she told NDTV, adding that women have to stand up for themselves at the "very moment".
She also said that not only women, but men should also come out and support them.
"Because we women work in an atmosphere thinking probably men around us would be there to support us and protect us. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen at times," she said.