“Though ‘Me Too’, a campaign against sexual harassment is gaining global popularity, it is still not so popular in Nepal. Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities are promoting the campaign freely but Nepali actresses are scared to talk about this,” Veteran Kollywood Actor, Rekha Thapa stated. Speaking at the event ‘Aahwaan Sambaad’ organized at the premises of Martin Chautari, Thapa expressed that lack of unity among females and the trend of blaming them for harassment are the key reasons why the Campaign is not able to take a pace in K-Town.
“Our conservative society blames females even if its men’s fault.” She recalled the incident of her divorce, “After my divorce, people considered the fault was mine. Nobody memorized his already failed two marriages.” She could not deny that female artist of Nepali film industry have been through sexual harassment. “If anybody collects courage to speak on the topic, the person will get nothing except contempt.”
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The campaign kicked off by American activist Tarana Burke in 2006, which become a hot issue in 2017 after Hollywood Actress, Alyssa Milano tweet sporting the females who have been victim of sexual harassment. Then ‘#metoo’ became the platform to share the stories of sexual harassment.
The platform was by a number of Hollywood and Bollywood artists, including Lady Gaga and Tannushreee Dutta. The campaign hit Nepali Film Industry as well, and some of the artist of K-Town spoke on it.
Thapa stated that making women centric film gives her satisfaction, even if the movie is not commercially successful. She said, “Such movie helps to promote women empowerment. Some women centric films were released on the occasion of Saraswati Puja, where they were depicted as victims. I don’t think featuring female characters in weaker roles will empower them. Therefore I always feature them in a bold character.”
