No! Despite Sajid Khan, #MeToo is not a failure in India

The last few days have jolted India back to the #MeToo movement . When the country’s most popular reality show platformed one of the country’s most high-profile perpetrators, it was a denigration for millions of women: those who had either bravely spoken up of their harassment and those who’d been allies of the movement. There was disappointment, disillusionment, disgust and sadness. Like with most crimes committed by men, it felt like those who’d been called out during #MeToowere granted impunity, while women who dared to speak up were dragged to court, shamed, gaslit, fired, demoted, trolled, undermined, bullied, intimidated, and called names. POS men, creeps, and ableists to creeps were once again heroes to centuries of misogyny, sexual harassment, sexual assault and the toxic masculinity that pervades every aspect of Indian society. I remember having had the privilege to report women’s stories and amplify their voices back in 2018 when #MeToo came to India. Women who gathered the courage to confront men who had persistently oppressed them, and in the process revealed the extent of rot in the system. But even as I dwelled on the various aspects of the movement; from its antecedents to the issues it addressed, to the dilemmas it grappled with, to the path it was likely to chart, I was repeatedly asked one question: Meghna, was #MeToo a failure in India? I understand where this question stems from. When men in power face sexual harassment allegations, it doesn’t appear that some of them take these seriously. It takes almost nothing for Alok Nath to neither “deny nor agree” the horrific rape allegations against him. Or for a Kiran Nagarkar to maintain a stoic silence. Or for a Chetan Bhagat to say he “forgot he was married”. Or a Nana Patekar to send Tanushree Dutta a legal notice. Or for companies to say that they are “investigating” the allegations. [caption id=“attachment_11394061” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Nana Patekar and Tanushree Dutta[/caption] Yet, repeatedly, despite this, I say the same thing: NO! No, #MeToo isnot a failure in India! Why? #MeToo isone of the 21st century’s largest feminist movements. It’s brought together women from all over the world, including India, to have a single unified conversation around sexual harassment. It’s demonstrated that sexual harassment or intimidation is not normal, and no woman should have to put up with it. There must be consequences, and what we saw––when MJ Akbar was forced to resign, a production company shut down, a comedy troupe dissolved¬¬, perpetrators being publicly shamed, men losing their jobs––were the first results of this new realization. Undoubtedly 2018’s biggest muckraker, #MeToo helped women speak up and break the culture of silence. In a country where women have always been told ‘chup raho’ this was a revelation! For possibly the first time in India women were not only speaking up, but also being heard! Isn’t that evolution enough? You want more? Ok. We never forgot. The accused men never regained their lost glory. The prominent among the accused are still questioned when public access is granted to them. When MJ Akbar sent 97 lawyers after Priya Ramani, and she still won in court, we overcame the favourite recourse of any abuser: gaslight and intimidate your victim. One small step for Priya, one giant leap for womankind. We heard our courts say that women cannot be punished for raising their voices against sexual abuse. Women have a right to put up their grievances on any platform even after decades. There’s no statute of limitation i.e. no time limit to reporting abuse. The right to reputation does not comet the cost of the right to dignity. When the law of the land shifts shape you know women can continue to speak up! While we were encouraging our women to speak out, we also learnt how to speak to our men. Many of us were grappling with how to deal with the names being outed, as some were role models, icons, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and even family. We learnt that while this was difficult, no doubt, it was finally time to separate emotion from rationale. We were finally unwilling to deny the truth to protect the male species that has enjoyed this entitlement for centuries. Most men listened. Again, a first. Still not enough? Ok. We learnt that #MeToo is not an event, it’s a process. Because the fight for people’s rights is always going to be a messy and chaotic PROCESS. Things are often neither black nor white, but a shade of grey. It’s sometimes hard to make sense of it all. While we got many things wrong––like false accusations, understanding due process, and women who refused to be allies––we also got many things right. After centuries of patriarchal entitlement that treated women as sexual property, high profile male abusers were terrified that they no longer solely defined what was sexually appropriate for the contemporary world. Despite it being, and remaining, one of the main bones of contention, we made some progress understanding and differentiating between sexual abuse, sexual harassment and sexual assault. Gender sensitization in courts, even most films and web series, companies, families, social circles and even our language, became a thing, a reality for anyone not living under a rock. We began to understand due process for both victims and those accused. At the beginning, women who’d been sexually harassed were unable to move beyond social media testimonials. The onus to follow through fell entirely on them. Soon, systems and allies were put in place to assist them. Men either stepped up or stepped aside. As the burden of proof came onto victims, women became smart. In an era of smart phones and still foolish men drunk on their own power, it’s not really that difficult. We separated the wheat from the chaff. We found our tribe. To hell with the naysayers. When the Khabar Lahariya Editor-in-Chief Meera Devi, a woman beyond admiration, said that men had stopped sending porn videos, blue films and morphed photos to female journalists on WhatsApp, it was a definite win. This was followed by the map of India which lit up in areas where #MeToo had spread, and rural India wore a bold twinkling red! While it came belatedly to India, #MeToo was truly a case of better late than never.Now, when we speak of fighting the good fight, we speak of fighting the good fight of gender equality, we can move beyond preaching to the converted to converting the preachy. There are many––many many––battles still to be won, but that does not take away from the battles––big and small¬¬––that we have already won! Meghna Pant is a multiple award-winning and bestselling author, screenwriter, columnist and speaker, whose latest novel BOYS DON’T CRY (Penguin Random House) will soon be seen on screen. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.