When the #MeToo movement took the world by storm last year, there was an eruption of voices from across the world: many came to support it, and many came to critique it. #MeToo effectively brought to public attention the severity and common nature of sexual harassment that permeates the fabric of our society. It was in the wake of this burning issue that the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival chose the subject for its closing debate.
Moderator Namita Bhandare opened the discussion by speaking of how the movement has cut across borders, exposing sexual harassment as a specific yet universal issue. It has renewed conversation about sexual violence, and empowered enraged women all over the world to demand a “new script,” since the older system of legal machinery has failed them.
Journalist and activist Ruchira Gupta expressed her shock at the framing of the debate’s titular question. Alluding to caste-specific sexual violence, sexual harassment cases against top politicians, and judicial inadequacy in dealing with such cases, she said that men have it “systemically easy,” and that impunity can only be delegitimized through political acts like the #MeToo movement. Addressing the complexity of sexual violence, she noted that it can also be perpetrated through the idea of “love,” as in the case of domestic violence.
Lawyer Pinky Anand brought in the legal dimensions and limitations in the pursuit of justice for sexual harassment victims. The benefit of the doubt, according to the law, is in favour of the accused, and in most cases, justice is either delayed or miscarried. Instancing the Farooqui case, she pointed out that this inadequacy has necessitated the growth of social and civil activism in recent times, as an increasing number of women have spoken out about violence meted out against them.
Journalist Sandip Roy talked about how institutionalised patriarchy and sexism delivers to an “old boys’ club.” He pointed out the insufficiency of laws like the Vishakha Guidelines in dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace, because the process relies too much on individual action when it is actually a socio-political concern: “Our silence plays into a toxic work culture.”
Writer-journalist Bee Rowlatt followed, who hailed the #MeToo movement as a “collective outcry against male sexual violence.” The overwhelming evidence points to men as predominantly the perpetrators. A simple solution, she suggested, is for men to listen to and understand women. To resounding applause, Rowlatt concluded by saying, “If you really want to prove that men have it hard, you have to sit down, be quiet and lose this debate.”
Eminent journalist Vinod Dua agreed that men indeed do have it too easy. They are raised with a sense of entitlement, and controversial statements like “boys make mistakes” or “one minor rape” give them the power to get away with being sexual violence perpetrators. In small towns, outside elite gatherings, men have been brought up with notions of being all-powerful, influenced by pop culture and family values.
While being against sexual harassment, writer and journalist Manu Joseph took a different standpoint. He said that due to certain “horrific instances,” there are things colleagues can’t say to each other anymore, having to be extremely politically correct: “There is disorder in the male-female relationship.”
This was followed by the closing statements. Gupta said that even if only a minority of men decide to abuse the power they have been bestowed with, it becomes problematic for the whole society. She asserted that someone “touching your cheek, pulling your bra strap, and poking your waist” is “rape culture” and should be called out for what it is.
Making a bold statement, Roy said that real change will come when a woman is able to walk into a police station to register an FIR on sexual harassment charge, and not be asked what she was drinking or wearing: “Change will come when a woman will get into an autorickshaw and not automatically put up her bag as a barricade.”
The audience ultimately attested through the vote that men certainly do have it easy.Bee called out the immense polarization around the issue, and ended the closing debate with a quote from Mary Wollstonecraft: “I do not wish women to have power over men, but over themselves.”
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