#MeToo: Women directors vow not to work with offenders

Mumbai, Oct 14: Women filmmakers from Indian film industry have joined hands to support people sharing their stories of sexual harassment and have decided not to work with any proven offender.

Critically-acclaimed directors such as Konkona Sensharma, Nandita Das, Meghna Gulzar, Gauri Shinde, Kiran Rao, Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar are among the eleven women filmmakers who have pledged their support to India's #MeToo movement.

"As women and filmmakers, we come together to support the #MeToolndia movement. 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.

"We are here to spread awareness to help create a safe and equal atmosphere for all in the workplace. We have also taken a stand to not work with proven offenders. We urge all our peers in the industry to do the some," the statement from the directors read.

The list of the female filmmakers also includes Alankrita Shrivastava, Nitya Mehra, Ruchi Narain and Shonali Bose.

In the wake of the #MeToo movement many names from Indian entertainment industry have cropped up in the cases of sexual harassment and misconduct.

Celebrities such as Nana Patekar, Rajat Kapoor, Subhash Kapoor, Alok Nath, Subhash Ghai, Vikas Bahl, Kailash Kher, Sajid Khan, Mukesh Chhabra and comedy group AIB, Aditi Mittal, singer Raghu Dixit, Tamil lyricist-poet Vairamuthu have been named and shamed.