Tollywood women 'VOW' to fight

Actor Lakshmi Manchu, along with producer Supriya and Swapna, actor Jhansi and director Nandini Reddy have joined hands to head an all women support group for the welfare of women in the Telugu film industry.

Called Voice of Women (VOW), the group, with the support of 80 other women from different technical wings, aims to connect and support women across all crafts of the industry.

"Voice of Women is an initiative taken for the welfare of the women in Telugu film industry. It was started by five of us and now we are a family of 80 women.

We are here to raise the voice against any injustice happening to the women in our industry and we try our best to resolve the issues faced by them.

VOW holds a very special place in my heart," Lakshmi said in a statement.

The group aims to create gender awareness in the working spaces. Bi-monthly meets are held to discuss issues.

The plan to have a database of all women technicians in the Telugu film industry is in progress, according to the statement.

VOW was instrumental in formulating a panel at the Film Chamber of Commerce to address sexual harassment at the workplace.

This panel at the Film Chamber has 25 members, 50 per cent of whom are non-film industry members.

The ex-official members of various craft associations are default members on the panel.