It was empowering, but then came the backlash , which was of no ordinary nature. Within months, the women who came forward were weighed down by litigations and defamation suits. Somewhere in the fringes, the men’s rights activists , or “meninists,” reared its head too, aiming to dilute #MeToo. So now, one year on, where exactly are we?

In a matter of days, more disclosures came in the form of Twitter threads and Facebook posts. As one woman’s note urged others to speak up, the insidious pattern of silence broke instantly, by (mostly) women who’ve been sexually harassed and assaulted by (mostly) men in powerful positions. Since then, the list of sexual harassment allegations against prominent figures in India has grown. The well-known names came from Bollywood , the journalism and media industry, and even politics .

It was on October 8, 2018, when the long-awaited wave of the global #MeToo movement finally hit Indian social media. A sexual harassment complaint by Tanushree Dutta against fellow actor Nana Patekar resurfaced wherein Dutta said Patekar acted inappropriately while they were shooting a film in 2008.

Last month, Gupta slapped a case against Scene and Herd , seeking Rs 5 crore ($70,2325) in damages from the account admins. And now, the Delhi High Court has directed Instagram to reveal the identity of the users linked to the anonymous account. The court also ordered Facebook and Google to remove posts containing the allegations.

The user in question was the Scene and Herd (@Herdsceneand) account, which posted sexual harassment allegations against some of the most prominent names in the Indian art world in December last year. One of their disclosures was that of sexual misconduct by artist Subodh Gupta towards young female staffers. Gupta, according to a few survivors, was a “serial sexual harasser.”

Early this month, a breaking story put into question the progress of the #MeToo movement in India. The headline? “Instagram was ordered to reveal the identity of a user posting sexual harassment allegations against men in the Indian art scene.”

First, the good news. An analysis by ComplyKaro Services, an Indian provider that helps companies and organisations comply with legal obligations, found that among the top 100 Bombay Stock Exchange companies, there’s been a 14 per cent increase in reports of sexual harassment.

“Getting complaints is good because it means women are encouraged or are comfortable with making complaints,” said Vishal Kedia, the trainer and founder of ComplyKaro Services. “I'm not getting into the right or wrong, or whether it happened or not because that's for the committee to decide. But the fact that women are coming in higher numbers means that there is now a better redressal mechanism as compared to the past.”

However, Kedia voiced some apprehensions. “Along with the rise of cases, there’s also been an increase in the pendency in the cases, which is concerning,” he added. Pendency is the state of being pending, undecided, or undetermined. Kedia’s concerns are justified. During the movement, it’s become clear that formal routes of justice (that of going to the police station and filing a criminal complaint under the Sexual Harassment Act) are not effective, at all.

A few people VICE spoke to are still undecided about whether or not last year’s wave of allegations shifted anything in society. “I’m not sure whether there has been a miraculous change in atmosphere since the disclosures came in October to November last year,” said advocate Rebecca John, who is part of Ramani’s counsel.