India’s minister for women has written to leading Bollywood film-makers asking them to crack down on sexual exploitation in the industry after several actors went public with allegations of harassment and assault.
Indian women contributed thousands of stories of harassment and abuse to the #MeToo campaign, sparked by the revelation of decades of sexual abuse allegations against the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
She said harassment under Indian law included unwanted touching, lewd remarks or making “a demand or request for sexual favours”.
But the number of official reports of sexual harassment made to Cintaa has increased fourfold in the past two years in line with a growing willingness among Indian women across society to report sexual misconduct.