"#MenToo protects society as a whole, doesn’t diminish #MeToo," says Pooja Bedi.Comparing the #MeToo and #MenToo movement is like comparing the moon and the sun. The radiance of the sun by day does not take away from the radiance of the moon by night, and the two have their own roles and responsibilities towards the planet. For the sake of clarity, #MeToo is largely seen as a movement of women, by women and for women. While they add that it includes men, if you hashtag it, a pink symbol shows up. In India, #MenToo is a movement that is being given momentum by women and men, and aims to protect men as well as the women in their families, who bear the brunt of his #rapist tag, amongst other charges. Scores of innocent men are given the most repulsive labels immediately upon arrest, despite lack of evidence and despite showing hard evidence to the contrary. After years of going through jail and courts many are exonerated, some with honourable acquittals, but the damage to their reputation, careers, life and family is irreparable.Rampant misuse of stringent laws meant to protect women is only going to backfire on women’s rights. If #MenToo aims to put the brakes on alarmingly rising numbers of false cases, it will only give back the weight and integrity to the #MeToo movement, because misuse of a movement takes away from its purpose and credibility. #MenToo is not anti #MeToo, because no movement that focuses on equality, equal rights, equal laws, equal justice and equal protection of both sexes could ever be a threat to any credible movement. #MenToo aims to protect men as well as women from the brunt of fake cases. It is also important to note the distinction between an accused man being acquitted over lack of evidence v/s when a case is proven to be fake. If we can name and shame men who are proven rapists, we can certainly do the same to women who are proven to have filed fake cases. Both are a violation of dignity and human rights.#MenToo is society standing up against the misuse of laws and the humiliation, disrepute, agony and incarceration of innocent men to satisfy a woman’s need for vengeance, extortion or manipulation. Data by the Delhi Commission for Women states 53.2% of rape cases filed in Delhi between April 2013 and July 2014 turned out to be false. According to NCRB data, 10% dowry cases filed each year are proven false. In 2013, out of the investigated 1,12,058 cases, 10,864 were false. And in 2012, 10,235 out of 1,03,848 were proven false. After this data was released, the Supreme Court had observed that the law meant to combat the menace of harassment of women by their husband or in-laws was often being used as a “weapon rather than shield by disgruntled wives”. The IPC 498A being a cognisable and non-bailable offence only worsens the plight of those falsely accused. Sections 354, 509 and 376 are there to protect women, and not to terrorise innocent men. If there is a National Commission for Women to address the rights and grievances of women, #MenToo believes it’s only logical and fair to have a National Commission for Men in place to do the same.Even though some women sneer at the need to protect men on the grounds that we were once a patriarchal society, innocent men of today need not suffer because of what Indian society ostensibly once was. Fact is, be it to be the providers, not show vulnerability, and now deal with misuse of laws against them and their families, the pressure on men is extreme. WHO data states that suicide rate in India is 16.4 women per 100,000 v/s 25.8 for men.Pro-women movements like #MeToo were amazing till umpteen cases came to light about its misuse and even how PR agents were egging on young starlets to put a hashtag on someone to get a slice of limelight. And this is where the problem lies. Such practices dilute a movement like #MeToo as well as other women’s rights movements, and work against laws created to protect women. This dilution, please note, is not due to men, but women themselves. To brazenly put false accusations on men because there can be no apparent repercussions for women is highly dangerous to society and once again, a violation of human rights. In an era of consensual pre-marital sex, Tinder and live-in relationships, women cannot be put on untouchable pedestals as they oscillate from being emancipated one moment to suddenly being helpless the next. Rape is a heinous crime, #MenToo would like to demand clarity in law as to what defines a rape. A woman claiming rape because a man refuses to marry her, or because she wants to settle scores is hugely disrespectful to women who have actually been put through the trauma of real rape and abuse and their fight for justice. While #MeToo emphasised naming and shaming, #MenToo focuses on protecting the identity of both victim and accused until proven guilty.It’s time for activists, politicians and society as a whole to recognise #MenToo as a movement that protects society, men, women and families without discrimination and that it is a movement for a free, equal and respectful society that will bring law, order and punishment to the guilty, irrespective of gender.