Before we delve deep into the topic it is very necessary for us to realize that what actually the metoo movement is in its entirety. This movement began to spread like a wildfire in the month of October , 2017 as a hashtag in every social media platform to bring into notice the extensive prevalence of sexual harassment and assaultespecially in the workplace. This extensive movement was initiated by Tarana Burke who is a social activist and community organizer, in the year 2006 on a social network platform termed as Myspace, as a part of her campaign which was aimed to promote ‘empowerment through empathy’.
When we take into consideration the term ‘workplace’, it encompasses a wide spectrum of institutions and organizations who deal with multifaceted errands and have quite different objectives for that matter and the way of operation is also quite relative. It ranges from a MNC to a production house producing movies and working on several multimedia projects. Therefore the assaults occur due to varied reasons. The most common reason is in the form of asking certain indecent favors from the female employees which are for promoting them up the corporate ladder in an MNC and for rendering an opportunity to a female actor, in the film industry. Moreover, it is nothing but just pure exploitation of the authority of the employer and the dire needs of the employee. There are hundreds of such pro bono cases which are filed every year but very few of the victimscan afford to hire a legal expert, present their case and hence get the justice which they deserve. In most of the cases the victims are compelled to go to the HR department of the company in which they work and report it there but unfortunately no substantial action is taken and finally the employee is fired on the grounds of incompetency which technically is a humongous setback in her career. Therefore, they are in most of the cases compelled to resign from their jobs in spite of their needs and find a new job to pay the monthly bills.
This was the prevalent practice until and unless the metoo movement was initiated. This provided a platform for victims to express and share their concerns and opinions on a public platform and hence expose the miscreant. This works as a pretty effective mechanism or rather tool for the victims to seek justice if not legal, at least social and hence find comrades to sympathize with and fight for a similar cause. It helps in culminating a community of victims who can voice their opinions together and stand by and for each other, for the same cause.
Now, there is another side to it which essentially deals with the legitimacy and authenticity of the blames that are put against a particular individual and hence is exposed to widespread criticism. This tool can also be used by certain individuals who tend to degrade the image or reputation of a certain individual for personal contentions. The accountability and verification of these allegations are imperative as social media is a very powerful platform that can be used for several uses, good and bad.
Unfortunately, in a country like India a victim of sexual assault is generally made vulnerable to critical opinions and comments which are not essentially sympathetic in nature. Therefore a hesitation always remains whenever victims speak openly about it and take effective measures against the miscreant.
We need to realize that as a society, we need to undergo a societal alteration wherein these kind of disputes can be solved through similar civil society initiatives and altercation. We need to stop accusing he victim herself for the very assault which she has been subjected to and not critically analyze her character publicly as it makes things even worse for the victim and her family. The society as a whole needs to stand up for these victims and against the people who are committing such heinous deeds.
Thank you,
Rajdeep Bhattacharjee.
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