The Rise Of The Me Too Movement
The me too movement originated in 2006 when Tarana Burke, an African American civil rights activist first used the phrase to raise awareness about the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society. In 2017, American actress Alyssa Milano used the me too hashtag, urging victims of sexual assault to come forward and share their stories on social media platforms. This was following the sexual harassment allegations levelled against popular Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. A sort of storm erupted in Hollywood with many established actors calling out their offenders, a movement which is now known world wide as the #me too movement had begun.
At this point, I would never have thought that something like a me too could happen in Bollywood, the reason being that over here celebrities still hide behind their big names and seem to get away with anything, including murder, take for example the supposedly benevolent Bollywood godfather who is always just “being human”. These influential celebrities are never called out. The start of the me too movement in India was marked by Tanushree Dutta accusing veteran actor Nana Patekar for sexually harassing her on the sets of the 2009 movie horn ok please. She also named director Rakesh Sarang, producer Samee Siddiqui and choreographer Ganesh Acharya as accomplices. Even after a few eye witnesses corroborated her story she got very little support from the industry, with most people giving diplomatic answers and some trying to be witty by saying that they are neither Tanushree Dutta nor Nana Patekar so they cannot comment on the issue.
More than the “I believe Tanushree Dutta” hashtags that less than a handful of people were using, what was really needed was “Nana Patekar is an offender” hashtags. Soon after Tanushree Dutta’s claims, a host of other celebrities came out with their me too stories. It has been heartbreaking to read the utterly disgusting accounts of harassment retold by victims. Some people are against the movement because they feel that the victims should have spoken up at the time when the assault took place and not so many years later. It is not easy for a woman or man to speak about such a traumatic incident in their lives, especially when they know that the culprit is a powerful name and blaming him or her will only cause the victim to suffer more than they are already suffering. When one person who has been wronged raises their voice it gives many others the courage to speak up and finally unleash the pain, anger and humiliation they have been silently living with for the past god knows how many years.
Harassment, assault, rape all are punishable crimes and none of them can be ignored just because they do not sound ‘humiliating enough’. Shame the culprit, NOT the victim. These indecent, immoral people should be named and humiliated and that is exactly what is happening. All that these so called celebrities have is films and when that is taken away from them they are left with nothing, which is exactly what they deserve. Sajid Khan has been forced to step down as Director of Housefull 4, Nana Patekar too has been made to quit the film, The production house Phantom films has been dissolved following sexual misconduct allegations against co founder Vikas Bahl, who is also not going to be involved in the post - production of Hrithik Roshan’s super 30. Casting director Mukesh Chhabra has been fired from his directorial debut and how can anyone forget MJ Akbar, minister of state for external affairs who had to step down from his position of prestige after no less than 20 women accused him of sexual misconduct. If one victim blames someone, there can still be fear of false allegations, but when 20 women accuse one man you cannot expect all of them to be telling fabricated lies.
Countless Women have come up with detailed stories of how they have been repeatedly harassed by these men, and many have corroborated their stories but still these men have the audacity to say that all the allegations against them are baseless and untrue. Obviously, proper investigations should be conducted and no innocent should suffer, the movement should not be misused. I understand it is difficult to find out exactly what happened so many years ago, but witnesses will be present and people can be questioned. I have not heard of any legal investigation being conducted and every day I keep waking up to the news of someone filling a defamation case against someone else. It is high time the authorities wake up and do something, people’s lives are at stake. Now it’s not just the girls who are warned to be careful and to stay safe , the boys too have to be given ‘the talk’ because you never know who may hold your actions against you.
“ Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” - Winston Churchill.
So speak up for yourself, but also listen before you judge. Together, we can make a difference but , first we need to understand each other, support each other and most importantly, believe each other.
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