dailydriver Senior - BHPian



Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: KA - IND Posts: 1,065 Thanked: 3,448 Times

#MeToo - Women's Safety in India



Civilizations have often tended to treat women as properties - personal as well as state; as trophies of war; as recipients of men's frustrations, anger and greed; as objects that satiate the society's lechery.



Telugu poet Volga hits the nail on its head when she makes (The Farmer's Wife, translated by Vasanth Kannabiran) her protagonist say:



Quote: I was born with a head bent

A hand outstretched

Not unused to being sold our female folks from others/outsiders; the same way one protects his gold and silver. That's precisely why we confined them to the four walls of our homes - keep them inside, keep them safe. History has been witness to women of real substance being single handedly responsible for landmark changes. But they were few and far between; the condition of the majority remained pitiful. Education did bring in some change in the thought process of both men and women. However, this also meant that women would now have to go out into the bad world all by themselves, without the protective shadows of their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons. They managed well, for almost a generation or two after our independence - or so we thought - until now.



In a society that deifies its women by calling them Kshamayadharitri, some men were found trying to take advantage of women's patience, their inherent fear of societal ridicule and the deep routed idea of protecting their character - Sheel. This necessitated the framing of

Quote: such unwelcome sexually determined behavior (whether directly or by implication) as:

a) physical contact and advances;

b) a demand or request for sexual favors;

c) sexually colored remarks;

d) showing pornography;

e) any other unwelcome physical verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.

Quote: a) provide a safe working environment

b) display conspicuously at the workplace, the penal consequences of indulging in acts that may constitute sexual harassment and the composition of the Internal Complaints Committee

c) organise workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitizing employees on the issues and implications of workplace sexual harassment and organizing orientation programmes for members of the Internal Complaints Committee

d) treat sexual harassment as a misconduct under the service rules and initiate action for misconduct. shift+deleted it from our short term memories. Until of course, we were woken up to a harsh reality by the



Still, whoever has heard of any law being successful in preventing a crime?



Atrocities on women continued unabated, resulting in a much publicized rap on our knuckles in the form of a



Yes, we got the first prize!



Just when we were trying to make sense of this, came the Veni, vidi, vici moment for suffering women worldwide. Now, the last few days have seen many Indian women summoning up enough courage to recall and retell to the world the trauma that they had been subjected to by their male friends, colleagues, bosses, benefactors and acquaintances, in the past. The accuser and the accused are both persons that the common man identifies - a film star here, a journalist there, a singer elsewhere. What is at once shocking and sad is the fact that most men accused of being harassers are/were men of some power in their respective fields and that they have tried to misuse this very power to thrust themselves upon unsuspecting victims. By doing this, they seem to have violated every rule in the book of ethical employment.



Now, it would be necessary to point out clearly that in not one case has the guilt been proven conclusively; Yet.



However, in a your word against mine scenario, it is very unlikely that it can ever be. Legal recourse for a crime that happened in the distant past is also a slippery proposition. Courts need proofs, the very things that aren't in plenty.



In a year when #MeToo Movement has further helped highlight the lacuna in women's safety protocol in India. It is time we realize that rapes and murders are not the only crimes that women are subjected to in the society. Any move that is deemed unwelcome by a woman can and does amount to harassment - lewd texts, unsavory looks, unparliamentary words or even an unsolicited encroachment of non physical personal space.



It all seems a bit confusing, with our conscience trying to make sense of the exact subtext of the flow. One may wonder at the viability of a free society coexisting with a prudishly strict movement. But one cannot gainsay the fact that #MeToo is a tectonic event in human history. And looking at the rate and type of skeletons tumbling out of the cupboards everywhere, that it has the potential to shape our future in ways one can't dare fathom. The concept of women's safety is as old as human life itself. However, over the centuries, with the evolution of thought process and delineation of ideas such as equality, liberty and feminism, it has undergone significant changes.Civilizations have often tended to treat women as properties - personal as well as state; as trophies of war; as recipients of men's frustrations, anger and greed; as objects that satiate the society's lechery.Telugu poethits the nail on its head when she makes () her protagonist say:Till recently, women safety in India meant protectingfemale folks fromthe same way one protects his gold and silver. That's precisely why we confined them to the four walls of our homes - keep them inside, keep them safe. History has been witness to women of real substance being single handedly responsible for landmark changes. But they were few and far between; the condition of the majority remained pitiful. Education did bring in some change in the thought process of both men and women. However, this also meant that women would now have to go out into the bad world all by themselves, without theshadows of their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons. They managed well, for almost a generation or two after our independence - or so we thought - until now.In a society that deifies its women by calling themsome men were found trying to take advantage of women's patience, their inherent fear of societal ridicule and the deep routed idea of protecting their. This necessitated the framing of Vishaka Guidelines. Sexual Harassment was defined therein as anyIt also made it mandatory for employers toWe very promptly took note of the guidelines and sincerely implemented them - on paper. And of courseit from our short term memories. Until of course, we were woken up to a harsh reality by the Nirbhaya incident. The civil society, intelligentsia, legal luminaries, activists and the Government joined hands to promulgate the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Still, whoever has heard of any law being successful in preventing a crime?Atrocities on women continued unabated, resulting in a much publicized rap on our knuckles in the form of a report which said that India was the most dangerous country for women to live in, leaving behind war torn Syria and Afghanistan.Yes, we got the first prize!Just when we were trying to make sense of this, came the #MeToo Movement. It was amoment for suffering women worldwide. Now, the last few days have seen many Indian women summoning up enough courage to recall and retell to the world the trauma that they had been subjected to by their male friends, colleagues, bosses, benefactors and acquaintances, in the past. The accuser and the accused are both persons that the common man identifies - a film star here, a journalist there, a singer elsewhere. What is at once shocking and sad is the fact that most men accused of being harassers are/were men of some power in their respective fields and that they have tried to misuse this veryto thrust themselves upon unsuspecting victims. By doing this, they seem to have violated every rule in the book of ethical employment.Now, it would be necessary to point out clearly that in not one case has the guilt been proven conclusively; Yet.However, in ascenario, it is very unlikely that it can ever be. Legal recourse for a crime that happened in the distant past is also a slippery proposition. Courts need proofs, the very things that aren't in plenty.In a year when Homosexuality and Adultery were decriminalized and women empowerment was given a fillip because of other judgments and Governmental policies, thehas further helped highlight the lacuna in women's safety protocol in India. It is time we realize that rapes and murders are not the only crimes that women are subjected to in the society. Any move that is deemed unwelcome by a woman can and does amount to harassment - lewd texts, unsavory looks, unparliamentary words or even an unsolicited encroachment ofpersonal space.It all seems a bit confusing, with our conscience trying to make sense of the exact subtext of the flow. One may wonder at the viability of asociety coexisting with a prudishly strict movement. But one cannot gainsay the fact thatis a tectonic event in human history. And looking at the rate and type of skeletons tumbling out of the cupboards everywhere, that it has the potential to shape our future in ways one can't dare fathom. Last edited by dailydriver : 12th October 2018 at 00:45 .