Saher Husain Week 8.

#MeToo In India by Piyasree Dasgupta is about how through Raya Sarkar’s list of sexual harassers in academia (LoSHA), people who were sexually harassed by the faculty of various institutions, were able to speak up in solidarity against their assaulters which then created a spur not only in the Indian media, but also the foreign media. Because of the list, people were able to overcome their fear and reach out, sharing and letting out what they had just kept inside. The writer explains that while the institutions were approached to look into the matter, many did not even respond to such allegations and out of which only some individuals were held to be guilty because of the backlash that could be faced to the institution altogether. Raya Sarkar through such motion also hinted on the factor of lack of due process of law, denying the list as just a ‘witch hunt’ thereby opposing the various claims of false allegations.  

It is important to understand how the #Metoo movement has been able to encourage a sort of development against the trauma that has been faced by so many individuals because of sexual harassment thereby leading to a loss of various opportunities in different institutions all over the world because of the power and privilege relations and thus confirm that there is a way forward.

Also as Tarana Burke mentions in her TED talk, ‘Me Too is a movement not a moment’, that the movement creates a possibility which then actively builds a better world for the future to come wherein the trauma or numbness that has been felt by so many individuals can be shared and this can then help in creating solidarity and an empathetic environment thereby restoring humanity. The way forward, as Tarana suggests, is re-education and as trauma stops possibility, such movements give hope and create possibilities.  

Submitted by- Saher Husain (18010673)