It’s a long-established complaint that Hollywood is a man’s world, but now the imbalance in off- and on-screen power in the movies is being challenged as a violation of civil rights.

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asked state and federal authorities to investigate the hiring and appointment practices of studios, networks and talent agencies.

HollywoodThe ACLU has demanded an investigation into Hollywood studios' hiring practices

In a statement, Melissa Goodman, the director of the LGBT, Gender And Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU of Southern California, said Hollywood studios “don’t get a free pass to violate civil rights laws”. Her project filed grievances with a number of state and federal agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, citing “the systemic failure to hire women directors at all levels of the film and television industry.”

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It’s no surprise that the ACLU has found evidence of an imbalance: a recent study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University found that, over a seventeen year period, women represent only 7% of directors, 11% of writers and 18% of editors on the most successful movies of that timescale.

Legal experts foresee that the complaint might be difficult to prove since the law in this area covers employee-employer relationships but not individual contractors, which many working relationships in Hollywood are defined as, according to the New York Times.

However, it quotes Michael J. Zimmer, a law professor at Loyola University Chicago, as saying “the first level is to get the attention of the industry, that this is a real problem. It’s sort of assumed that’s it’s a given, a state of nature, and of course it’s not.”

This subject has become increasingly prevalent in recent months, with notable actions by high-profile personalities getting into the news. For example, Reese Witherspoon launched the #AskHerMore campaign with the aim of getting reporters to ask actresses about things other than the dresses they’re wearing at red carpet events.

Patricia Arquette also delivered a rousing speech demanding equal pay and opportunities for women when accepting her Best Supporting Actress award at the Oscars back in February.

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