Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct case has had numerous fall outs. One of this was a Facebook post by Raya Sarkar, a law graduate student at the University of California, Davis. She named two Indian academicians accused of sexual misconduct and then invited other victims to send her the names of Indian academicians who have sexually harassed them. Not being on Facebook, I did not see this post. But it caught my attention today when I saw that prominent feminists have put out a statement against Raya Sarkar.
Curious, I searched out the list and scrolled down through it. The following are my thoughts:
1. The list contains names of mostly social scientists. There are no scientists in that list. I am not surprised. The science students are not brave enough to name their professors. Their career (read: future grants and positions) are dependent on their professors.
2. After reading the names I was also not surprised by the statement put out by the prominent feminists.
3. One of the questions asked or suggestion proffered is that the victim should use the institutional mechanism available to them to complain against the alleged harasser. I agree that would be the wisest course. However, the reality is different. Where the powerful are concerned, no action will be taken and in this case, all attempts will be made to shield/protect the harasser. Instead, the victim will be shamed. May be this is one of the reasons that these victims have chosen to speak out in this way.
4. The institutions- even the courts- have not really given any solace to the victims that their voice will be heard and justice will be done. In case of Mahmood Farooqui, the Delhi HC let him off by saying that a feeble No can mean yes.
5.That said, the major problem is that it names the name but no explanation is offered. No chance is given to the alleged harasser to explain his stance. That is really worrisome. One of the names on the list shocked me. Why did the person name him? Is there any truth? Who investigates?
I do not know what will be the outcome of this list or what Raya Sarkar hopes to achieve. All I know is that the list has left me deeply disturbed.
I will just end this with a personal anecdote. When I worked for a company in Bangalore, a girl intern approached me. She was deeply upset. Her supervisor was mentally abusing her- basically telling her that he does not like to hire women because they are insincere and they do not work. They always make excuses as to why they cannot stay late and if some body talks to them harshly, they will start crying. I went to the HR and told her that irrespective of the position the man holds, he has no right to harass anyone. Next thing I knew- I was pushed into resigning from the company.
Curious, I searched out the list and scrolled down through it. The following are my thoughts:
1. The list contains names of mostly social scientists. There are no scientists in that list. I am not surprised. The science students are not brave enough to name their professors. Their career (read: future grants and positions) are dependent on their professors.
2. After reading the names I was also not surprised by the statement put out by the prominent feminists.
3. One of the questions asked or suggestion proffered is that the victim should use the institutional mechanism available to them to complain against the alleged harasser. I agree that would be the wisest course. However, the reality is different. Where the powerful are concerned, no action will be taken and in this case, all attempts will be made to shield/protect the harasser. Instead, the victim will be shamed. May be this is one of the reasons that these victims have chosen to speak out in this way.
4. The institutions- even the courts- have not really given any solace to the victims that their voice will be heard and justice will be done. In case of Mahmood Farooqui, the Delhi HC let him off by saying that a feeble No can mean yes.
5.That said, the major problem is that it names the name but no explanation is offered. No chance is given to the alleged harasser to explain his stance. That is really worrisome. One of the names on the list shocked me. Why did the person name him? Is there any truth? Who investigates?
I do not know what will be the outcome of this list or what Raya Sarkar hopes to achieve. All I know is that the list has left me deeply disturbed.
I will just end this with a personal anecdote. When I worked for a company in Bangalore, a girl intern approached me. She was deeply upset. Her supervisor was mentally abusing her- basically telling her that he does not like to hire women because they are insincere and they do not work. They always make excuses as to why they cannot stay late and if some body talks to them harshly, they will start crying. I went to the HR and told her that irrespective of the position the man holds, he has no right to harass anyone. Next thing I knew- I was pushed into resigning from the company.
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