By Richa Kharshandi
The #MeToo campaign has taken the country by storm unsettling the majority patriarchal society that had long forgotten to respect its women. The over-protective society blinkered by pointless traditions and irreverence has so long been encouraging and protecting sexual predators making harassment of women look like a norm first at home and later in workplaces. Years of pent up frustration, anger and sense of deprivation only needed a flicker to explode and #MeToo provided exactly that.
As the movement, which has its roots in America, gains momentum in the country with names, big and small, tumbling out of the closet almost everyday, one wonders whether this too will have a natural death and voices will fall silent with time. The concern becomes even graver considering the fact that so far, only women from the upper echelons of society could finally muster courage to come out of their shell and shame their perpetrators leaving behind a large section of victims from the middle and lower strata.
A Kolkata-based journalist, who had encountered predators at work on many occasions, believes that the movement to be sustainable has to include women from all classes and castes — “from the top executive in an MNC to the maid who works at her place, from the upper, privileged class women to the dalits” who face regular discrimination. “I don’t see that happening yet.”
Ignoring the lower stratum?
Most of the women that Sunday Shillong spoke to do not agree that the campaign is elitist though “it is definitely not an all-encompassing movement yet”.
Patricia Mukhim, senior journalist and activist says the movement is a “game changer” and it will be wrong to undermine it by calling it elitist. “Why call it an elitist idea merely because the first few to call out their sexual offenders were educated women from the world of media and cinema. The movement had to start somewhere. Now it has gained traction and people are getting to know more about it from discussions in the media. An idea is an idea and #MeToo is an idea whose time has come,” she adds.
The #MeToo campaign started in the US in 2006 but took a major turn only last year with a Hollywood actress exposing a powerful producer. It reached India this year. Names of big kahunas, including celebrities, politicians and journalists, were flashed on social media as more and more women started talking about the dark moments, the prying eyes, groping bosses and insolent organisations.
However, the movement is yet to see participation of women, both urban poor and rural, for whom the idea is “western” and “beyond our reach”.
“I do not think the movement or whatever you call it will ever come to us. The foremost reason is that our voices are feeble and do not reach too far. Also, we are not educated enough to use social media platform,” a domestic worker in the city had observed while curiously watching a news clipping on television about journalist-turned-politician MJ Akbar being accused of sexual harassment.
Shabina Akhtar, a Kolkata-based journalist and founder of a news portal, rejects the idea of the campaign remaining restricted to a particular class and stresses that even women from rural areas have equal rights to participate in this.
“But yes, they should be sensitised on the movement or should be encouraged to fight/speak out against sexual misconducts, be it at home or in workplace. The government or NGOs should reach out to the women in villages and make them come out with their stories,” she says.
Activist Agnes Kharshiing says let it be an elitist idea or whoever’s idea as long as it’s helping stop the crime. “Let’s not turn the good cause into something negative by calling it an elitist idea.”
On whether the “western” nature of the movement is a reason for #MeToo not becoming an inclusive campaign, Mukhim explains, “Well, there are many things we have borrowed from the West. Feminism and the awareness on gender discourses which include gender equity, gender equality and gender justice; even the notion of human rights for instance are movements that started in the West and became universally accepted because of the strength of their appeal… Social media with its wide outreach has enabled women to speak their minds and go through a catharsis and purge their minds and souls of the burden they have carried for decades. So it’s both a Western trend and also social media as an enabler that has resulted in the #MeToo crusade.”
Society as barrier
It takes a lot of courage for a victim, especially women, to narrate to the world their agony. Sexual harassment in any form leaves a scar for life. Yet when a woman shows the grit to raise her voice, society raises questions against her instead of bestowing affection and supporting her. The victim, who is already traumatised, has to go through another round of mudslinging. If the victim is an educated and independent woman, then the ordeal is more intense with society questioning “the motive” behind levelling allegations against a “respectable man”.
The #MeToo campaign, which saw a few cases of false allegations, too has not escaped the slurs and a ganged up patriarchy has not left any stone unturned to weaken it.
Kharshiing, who is the president of Civil Society Women’s Organisation, says may be one in hundred women might resort to false claims for publicity but the remaining 99 women will not lie. “Why would a woman want to shame herself in public? She is too scared to do that just for publicity,” she observes while adding that there is also a law for those who try to frame people and will face the same punishment if the allegations are not genuine.
When the perpetrator is someone wielding power, the fight becomes tougher. Money and position in society are often used to hush up victims or turn the tables against the weaker ones. An example of this could be the Julius Dorphang case where the former MLA not only got the chance to contest election (in fact a law in our country allows even rapists to be people’s representatives) but also become the first runner-up with overwhelming support from the electorate, including women. The logic that many gave for the curious case was that Dorphang, though a heinous criminal, had “worked” for his constituency. But isn’t it logical for him not to rape or molest someone from his constituency to keep intact the vote bank?
This is only one example of the perversion and a gory truth that lies behind the façade of the pseudo-progressive society.
The feasibility and sustainability of the #MeToo campaign depend on how society is supporting and encouraging victims to continue their fight against the Goliath system.
So will the movement lose steam if more names of influential people, like politicians and entrepreneurs, come out in the open?
“Well, we have to wait and watch. So far very few have gathered courage to call out past misdemeanours they suffered at the hands of their male bosses/colleagues. If women who have been abused dare to call out then the law will have to take its course. If there are institutions which have swept such incidents under the carpet and individuals who have got away with sexual abuse then it’s high time they pay for their crimes,” says Mukhim.
Kharshiing seconds Mukhim saying “a crime is a crime” and it does not matter who has committed it. “Law is equal for everyone and the police should take same steps for every criminal,” she adds.
In fact, one reason why the campaign has gained strength in India within a short period of time is because support for survivors of sexual abuse is weak in society and among friends and relatives. #MeToo being enabled by social media has given “agency to women to speak up and call out the sexual predators that have taken liberties with them and have shorn them of the dignity and integrity as working women, including the safe work spaces they are entitled to”, says Mukhim.
The CSWO president says law only works when the perpetrator is a poor man but when the accused is from a wealthy family, it overlooks the crime. “When the accused is influential or a high-profile personality, you will have to cry out for justice and fight, otherwise it will never come to you,” she says and adds that this movement is necessitated in order to bring justice.
“In spite of what we were told to believe, most workplaces still have a feudal, patriarch and sexist setting. Of course, the workplace cannot be different from the society around. What we are finding from this movement is that most of the accused, like MJ, were known sexual predators. But the ingrained bias forced them to keep shut, or be shamed or be forced to quit in case they spoke up. The internal committees were just an eyewash. So women had to wait for a social media movement like this to open up,” says a Kolkata-based journalist working with the print media.
Fear of talking
When asked for views on #MeToo, the principal of a reputed college in the city refused to speak and blatantly told Sunday Shillong that he was not aware of any such campaign. The gentleman, however, is not the only one who either feigned ignorance or simply avoided questions on the topic.
Many women in the administration also eschewed delving into the topic. Efforts to reach out to a woman legislator in the state also failed. When women in power refuse to speak their minds out and express their views in support of known and unknown victims, then can we expect the campaign to sustain for long?
The question also remains whether talking about sexual abuse is still a taboo in the country, and even in matrilineal Meghalaya. A student of a reputed city college says women in the state or any part of the country will always try to save their dignity and integrity but they must also not let sexual predators get away.
Kharshiing says keeping quiet is another way of helping the perpetrator. “Even though Meghalaya is a matrilineal society it is hard for women here to speak about issues like this because they are scared that people will judge them or will not believe them,” says a young advocate in Shillong.
Recently, a woman from Meghalaya levelled allegations of sexual harassment against two Christian brothers on the #MeToo platform. She was abused when she was only five years. However, other than her social media post and a few planned media interactions, the woman refused to speak, even when she was told that the article focuses on the campaign and not on her case. Reminding the correspondent about journalistic ethics and guidelines and her personal relationship with the editor of this newspaper, she assured that she would look into the questions which were mailed to her. But she does not “appreciate being called and badgered on the phone and message”.
The identities of those victims who have told their stories on social media are known. After speaking out once, if they scuttle now then they will be allowing the movement to stymie. The fight is long and arduous but with a platform at hand, it is time that women stand together.
Many youngsters, especially college goers, whom Sunday Shillong spoke to says the topic ‘sexual harassment’ will always be a “hush-hush issue”. No matter if you are an educated and open-minded person, conversation about intimidation will always be uncomfortable.
“Forget about educating children of sexual abuse, parents often tend to switch channels if an advertisement of condom is on. People in our country think that teaching your kids about these things is not right,” says one.
“Only a strong woman can speak out. Some fear to be vocal but I believe that with this movement they will overcome their terror,” says Claudia Jessica Bamon, the North East’s first lady bouncer.
Sharing her experience of working with Childline, Bamon says they used to teach children of bad touch and good touch. “We must make our children aware of bad things that people could do to them and what to do in situation like this.”
The body builder says men wouldn’t dare to force themselves on her but she does face inappropriate touches at times. “I do encounter behaviour like this but I nip the situation in the bud before it gets serious.”
In Meghalaya, where cases of incest and abuses are aplenty, only one woman could dare to speak out on the platform giving less hope about the movement’s longevity.
Inspiration
Victim/survivor Nasreen Khan, who jotted down her ordeal in an article that was published in a news portal, talks about the ugly truth of one of the most influential media houses in the country.
Khan did not only face sexual harassment but was also dismissed by the organisation for speaking out against her editor.
The single mother, who is also a passionate writer, was mentally harassed, threatened of rape and abduction, her phone was hacked, for raising her voice against sexual harassment.
“The purpose of my article was to bring out the truth because it is a ‘culture’ sort of thing in The Times of India to mistreat people and to behave inappropriately. But when I speak of the organisation I definitely do not mean everyone because there are very good people too in this media house,” she says.
She adds that she hopes her article will encourage victims of sexual harassment to speak out.
Recalling the ordeal, she says her former boss often touched her inappropriately and tried to sweet-talk her to get his way with her.
“After few days, his desperation got out of hand and one day he said that if you want to survive here, you will have to ‘keep me happy’.”
Khan’s fight against exploitation started long back. She single-handedly fought with the media house, the police and others.
The survivor says #MeToo movement has helped her in a big way. Her post was shared more than 8,000 times and many have come forward to share their stories.
Agreeing with Mukhim and Kharshiing, Khan says the campaign is not an elitist idea and that women from rural areas can equally participate. “Of course many women were scared to lose their jobs but I congratulate those who spoke out. The higher you stand, the higher you fall but these women were not scared to fall.”
On sustainability, Khan says it is in the hands of the victims/survivors to sustain the movement, adding, “It is the mindset of the people and it’s a huge problem. We need to generate awareness to make this campaign keep going.”
Provoking & inviting
The patriarchal society always has the tendency to malign women’s character by pointing at the way they dress and the independent life they lead or wish to live.
“This is a completely regressive view that comes from those with entrenched patriarchal mindsets who believe that clothes provoke rape. Rape is not about sex but about a display of brute force over the female body. If the kind of clothes women wear are the cause for their being raped then why are little girl children of three or four or five years being raped,” says Mukhim.
Akhtar firmly disagrees that women provoke men to touch or tease her. “It is a patriarchy thing.”
Even the legal system is sluggish on acting on these issues. Despite gaining several PILs for registration of FIRs against those accused whose names were made public for sexual misconduct, the Supreme Court has overruled the request to hear the cases as according to them “it is not so significant to serve justice right away”.
The idea of this movement is to fight such perverted thoughts and a skewed society. “The movement is a game changer and will put male employers and bosses on notice that they cannot take their female employees as sex playthings during working hours or beyond that because that constitutes sexual harassment. In fact, under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act 2013 every institution today that has more than 20 employees should have an Internal Complaints Committee where any woman facing any form of sexual harassment can complain to. Some believe that most companies and employers will now think twice about employing women. This is a backlash that is inevitable but this is also something that women’s rights activists would need to counter,” believes Mukhim.
#MenToo?
Women are certainly not the only ones facing sexual abuse. Men too are tormented that traumatises them for life. Sadly, it does not match the social conventions and are often downplayed.
A young student from the city told his experience with a girl who would often try to get too close or be over friendly. “At first, I thought she was friendly but I was not sure whether it was intentional. She would touch me and put her hands on my thighs which made me uncomfortable so I told her to maintain a distance.”
Also, not every allegation against men is true but once accused, his reputation is jeopardised. Without being proven guilty in a court, he is already living with the ‘rapist’ tag. Several men and boys whom Sunday Shillong spoke to feel there should be a similar platform for the other sex to narrate their stories, especially of abuse during childhood.
Bhaskar Narayan Gupta, a veteran journalist, says technically a #MenToo movement is necessary but practically no. “Such discourse actually dilutes the campaign that helps women victims. Also, the number of women victims is definitely more, be it in the US or India. As for #MeToo, it is a welcome development that also has several riders, including the angle of corporate culture and the endemic attitude of gender-based violence and domination. It can be sustainable only if it succeeds in courts of law,” says Gupta.
But before the judiciary steps in, women’s organisations should come forward and help make #MeToo an inclusive movement. The police should show alacrity and take FIRs and begin investigation.
No doubt the movement is accelerating faster than the men thought and in this case, “social media is a great enabler”.
“Everybody who is anybody today has a smart-phone so activism through the virtual world is also another platform to fight for justice,” says Mukhim, who is hopeful that the apex court of the country which is aware of the spate of allegations will give due attention to the cases.
“The powerful, who were abusing their position so far, will definitely feel some adversity (after the movement). There may also be some wrong accusations from people who may try to use it for manipulation or revenge. But in the long run and in the larger scheme of things, this movement can only shake up the culture of sexism across professions,” says the print media journalist from Kolkata.