Recently in India, the #MeToo movement has led to the resignation of men across industries. This includes MJ Akbar, a junior Minister of Foreign Affairs, Binny Bansal, CEO of Flipkart, .and several important Bollywood directors and producers. The whole Bollywood movie industry is taking a serious step to introduce and implement policies on sexual harassment in compliance with the POSH Act.
Finally, it seems, women in Corporate India can hold creepy men in power accountable for their actions. It has taken a while, but women standing in solidarity with their peers and breaking the silence around the issue in bucket loads has generated the above results and more. It has not been easy for any of these women to share their stories. But the time had come for them to come forward, document what had happened to them and call out these powerful men on their criminal and inappropriate behaviour.
However, across the border in Pakistan, it appears as though the silence is being maintained and the solidarity amongst women is not strong enough to sustain the onslaught and backlash from society. This became evident when Pakistani politician Ayesha Gulalai Wazir accused the cricket-star-turned-opposition-leader and now prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan of sexual harassment. She was not only denounced by her own party but faced threats and backlash, losing her legislature seat in the recent elections.
As women working on gender equality and sexual violence prevention, our work in India and Pakistan is centered not just around these sixteen days but occurs year-round. Through Safecity, a crowdmap based in India, we encourage anonymous reporting of sexual violence and identify patterns and trends that are location based
Similar, various celebrities were further abused and threatened with evident backlash from women when they have accused celebrity men of abusive behavior. Fashion designer Frieha Altaf, Maheen Khan and actress Nadia Jamil came out with their stories of sexual abuse. Oscar winning director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy tweeted about harassment of her sister by a renowned doctor only to face further harassment to herself. However, these women faced backlash from their female colleagues for using #MeToo at their convenience. For instance, when Meesha Shafi accused Ali Zafar, a prominent Pakistan singer who acted in India as well, of harassment, she not only faced severe criticism and backlash online and offline, she also encountered legal obstacles enshrined in workplace harassment laws when she filed her complaint under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010. It was rejected on the legal technicality that she “wasn’t an actual employee at the time the harassment allegedly took place”, and was in no way bound by a formal contract. Many called it the start of Pakistan’s #MeToo movement, however, Pakistan hasn’t had its Weinstein or M.J Akbar moment. Pakistan has a very long way to go.
In case of all high-profile harassment reporting cases, victims have been unabashedly abused online and offline. One of the common claims by detractors online is that allegations of sexual abuse is a tactic by women of privileged classes to gain fame and attention. It is not. The reality is, women of all backgrounds face sexual harassment and assault in both countries. Reported cases of crime against women in India increased 83 percent from 185,312 in 2007 to 338,954 in 2016. Whereas in Pakistan 18 women face heinous crimes daily as there have been 53,364 such reported cases in Pakistan since 2011, showing 34 percent increase during this period
As a result of this violence, women and girls are restricted in their movements, opportunities and living a quality life. They do not have a level playing field like their male counterparts and this in turn perpetuates a cycle of violence and insecurity. In the patriarchal culture of the sub-continent, this further puts a strain on the liberties of a woman and girl where there is a need to “protect,” which in reality is very limiting.
This month, we shine a light on the issue of gender based violence for sixteen days, starting from 25 November, The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to 10 December, The International Day of Human Rights, across these days, activists and organisations around the world amplify their advocacy and join together in solidarity to speak out.
As women working on gender equality and sexual violence prevention, our work in India and Pakistan is centered not just around these sixteen days but occurs year-round. Through Safe city, a crowd map based in India, we encourage anonymous reporting of sexual violence and identify patterns and trends that are location based. The stories on the map are powerful in highlighting that this issue is not restricted to the sub-continent but is a global pandemic that affects and impacts lives of millions of women and girls around the world. Women4Peactech in Pakistan is developing an app for workplace harassment reporting for women. The aim is to encourage employers to reform workplace practices to ensure safety for women employees.
We cannot succeed in ending sexual violence alone.
India’s #Metoo moment has come a long way, however, Pakistan still needs to mend its laws and generate more awareness to encourage women to speak out about sexual harassment.
During the sixteen days, we would like to see a genuine effort by government authorities to address this issue through identifying and tackling the root causes of this violence, engaging more men and boys, providing an enabling environment for women and girls and more representation of women in all forms of government and decision-making bodies.
Quratulain Fatima is cofounder women4peacetech and is working extensively in rural and conflict-ridden areas of Pakistan with a focus on gender inclusive development and conflict prevention. She is a 2018 Aspen New Voices Fellow. She tweets @moodee_q
ElsaMarie D’Silva is the Founder & CEO of Safecity that crowdmaps sexual harassment in public spaces. She is a 2018 Yale Greenberg World Fellow and 2015 Aspen New Voices Fellow. Follow her on twitter @elsamariedsilva.