What Next After #MeToo?

As women find their voices on social media and keep Facebook buzzing with

#MeToo

posts, sceptics and cynics wonder whether this message-driven campaign against

sexual abuse

will make any noticeable dent or difference to the issue at hand. While women who were too scared, or hesitant, or ashamed to share their stories earlier may now feel emboldened by the admission of so many, both men and women, of having been sexually abused, will this movement, having defined the magnitude of the evil, run out of steam? Or can we seize this opportunity to keep this issue alive in the public space? There’s no disputing that such campaigns are necessary to create an outrage, an anger against sexual abuse, but we will need to build upon its success to ensure that men and women are safe from the sexual predators who lurk in familiar spaces, within families, workplaces, in public transport, in crowded marketplaces, in deserted alleys, is what people Chennai Times spoke to had to say about this. Read on…

‘WHAT NEXT’ IS THE CRITICAL PART:

EVE ENSLER

Eve Ensler, American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist, best known for her play, The Vagina Monologues, who has been running campaigns like One Billion Rising, a global day of action, as well as dancing to stem violence against women for the past 20 years, says, “Breaking this silence to tell our stories for the cause is itself a great move. Now that we have seen the names of women who are constantly opening up after so much of efforts, I think what I am more interested to know is who the perpetrators are. We have to keep the laws alive and not let it go after one major rape or sexual abuse case that make headlines. I think we really need to look at workplace violence, which seems to a major issue for all the women working in different sectors all over the world.” For the upcoming global fest, One Billion Rising, Ensler is working with a group of men who are writing lyrics on patriarchy and she says that men play an important role in such cases. “Men must stand up for their women (mother, sister, girlfriends, daughters and wife). We are beginning to see a lot of men coming forward to join this movement. We don’t see justice when it comes to sexual harassment cases and we need to bring a strong and strict law so that women can have faith in such laws. This is a widespread issue and I think it is larger and bigger than any health condition or global crises. The seriousness of the issue can bring a lot of changes.”She appeals to men to rise against wrong and raise their voices against wrong doing. We have abusers everywhere. These are privileged men with political, physical and economic power and this includes the super Predator in Chief, Donald Trump, who was elected after bragging about grabbing women’s pussies without their consent and who has more than 15 charges of abuse against him. Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly… the list is endless. All these men take what and who they want, when and as much as they want at any time. We all need to understand and accept the fact that sexual abuse is an illegal act, she adds. Emphasising the importance of educating our children she says, “We all need to work together to educate our boys and tell them how to respect women, value them, treat them with equal amount of respect just like any other human. We need to understand that this is in reality men’s issue, and not women’s. Women should never blame themselves if something like this happens to them. They need not take the blame on themselves. We also need to create strong movies and music to make men realise their false patriarchy. All kinds of movements are a part of the same project. Creating campaigns like #MeToo on Facebook is like keeping a mental engagement but what after #MeToo, alive? ‘What Next’ is the critical part! Patriarchy is like a virus. We as women need to take responsibility and react instantly if anybody tries to abuse us.” She says for now her focus is on women’s issue and once women are free she will think about men’s issues, too.

WHEN WE ARE VOCAL, PEOPLE STAND FOR US

Actress Varalaxmi Sarathkumar emphasises the importance of educating children at home. “These campaigns are only to create awareness and let the women know that they are not alone. This is the best support a woman can expect. Women must not feel shamed if they are victims,it is not their fault; it is the men who are responsible.The problem is many women think such talk is taboo. And all these years we have been quiet. Parents must educate their children about good and bad touch, and we must educate and sensitise our boys,”she opines.

“The #MeToo campaign is aimed at showing people how common sexual harassment and assault is because that day, my timeline was filled with women and men putting their status with #MeToo. A month ago, a complete stranger harassed me on Instagram —he was threatening me, saying that if I don’t talk to him, he’ll post my pictures on porn websites. My first instinct was to deactivate my account and stay out of it. But he already had my pictures, so, what could I do? I blocked and reported him. Within three days, I got a notification from Instagram saying they had removed his account from Instagram. When you are vocal about such issues, people come forward in support. If someone has a mind twisted enough to believe it is okay to cross someone else’s personal boundaries and unapologetically persist in the act, they are also twisted enough tobe rightfully punished for the crime. So, fight back. Take your time. Make sure you stay safe. Stay angry. Do as little as you can, but do something,”says 17-year-old Hamsadhwani A, city youngster.

IT BECOMES A DISCUSSION ON OUR WARDROBE SIZE

Sahithya Jagannathan

, model and TV presenter, says, “I am hoping that next time something like this happens, women will be more open to sharingtheir experience with someone because that plays a big role in not letting something like this affect you and leave a lasting impression on you. Campaigns like this are important and I don’t think it’s a start – a lot more needs to be done. I don’t know what led to so many women calling out somebody like Harvey Weinstein because a man with that power abusing women who we look up to as icons and think are incredible is unbelievable. Just look at the numbers, and if even they, being in the position theyare, thought they can’t speak about what was happening to them, imagine the number of women around us, and what they might be going through. Something like this happens every day in India. I also think perpetrators should be named and held responsible for what they do. A lot of these women who have posted #MeToo on social media probably have never gone home and told their parents any of it because this is not a conversation you have in an Indian family context. And even if we do, it becomes a discussion on your wardrobe size.”

SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS NOT GENDER-SPECIFIC

Not just women but men get sexually harassed and abused, too, and it is harder for men to come out, says

Satkrit Krishna

, city-based fashion designer. “With #MeToo campaign, I am just trying to broaden the entire perspective here, and one must know that it is not a gender-specific thing andthat it happens to everybody. It is not something that only women have to face. I think men just tend to deal with the entire situation and have a more effective mental system to deal with the whole problem. It has happened so many times with me. The first time it happened when I was a 22-year-old, and it always happens at the workplace. In the fashion industry, where there are fewer straight men, it’s always been gay men who abuse other men. I don’t think it’s going to make any sense naming anybody right now, and what happened in the past has happened. Awakening has to happen from somewhere and to be practical, I don’t think it’s possible to eradicate this kind of problem from the world."

“We live among the highly influential perpetrators,”N Alagar Samy, Inspector, RPF, Chennai Central Suburban terminal, says, and adds, “Twenty years ago, when a woman was sexually harassed, she was told to keep quiet and let it go unreported — and so, men had the easy way out back then. Girls were advised not to raise their voices, not to talk about such incidents. They were given other options along with being told not to complain to anybody —change the route to college, change the bus, better still, don’t go out at all, etc., to evade the situation. These days parents have changed their attitude towards such incidents and that has happened due to such campaigns.”

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