The recent wave of revelations about sexual harassment in the entertainment and news media industry in India, popularly called the #MeToo moment has made one thing clear: there's a dearth of listening skills and empathy. There is anguish, there is pain, there is hurt and most of all, there is anger. The time has finally arrived to heed these voices, and with understanding.
Over September and October, women like actor Tanushree Dutta, script writer and film producer Vinita Nanda and journalist Priya Ramani publicly shared their stories of sexual harassment and sexual assault by powerful men in the entertainment and media industry. While Dutta described her ordeal on a film set in 2008, Nanda and Ramani made their revelations about rape and sexual harassment on social media, initially leaving their harassers unnamed but with clues to their identities, which became public soon thereafter. These public disclosures have emboldened women to come out with their experiences, in a veritable flood of stories of humiliation, violence and abuse of power in the course of their work. Spurred by the flood of allegations, filmmaker Nishtha Jain in her Facebook post revealed incidents of sexual harassment, stalking and bullying by senior journalist Vinod Dua more than 25 years ago.
At the time these incidents took place, there were few civil institutional mechanisms to redress workplace related harassment and sexual assault, save for making police complaints. Dutta did complain in 2008 to the Cine and TV Artistes' Association (CINTAA) but was not satisfied with the response. After Dutta left the film set along with her family, her father had filed a police complaint about the damage to their vehicle and intimidation by a mob allegedly supporting the harasser. Nanda did share her painful experience with friends, family and even a journalist. But she was advised silence, lest it affect her career. Now, Dutta and Nanda have filed police complaints and Jain's complaint is being investigated by the institution where Dua is an editor. Speaking out has been accompanied by the inevitable backlash. Some of the accused and their families – such as film actor Alok Nath's wife, director Vivek Agnihotri, and former editor and minister M J Akbar – have denied the allegations and resorted to legal means to silence the women speaking out by slapping criminal defamation cases and civil suits. Although the disclosures have been measured narratives of personal pain, the pushback has been severe, with accusations of 'vengeful women', 'lynch mob' thrown at them. Many are being exhorted by naysayers as well as feminists supportive of women speaking out to follow 'due process' as the superior method to address their grievances.
The dubious allure of 'due process'