#MeToo: An Indian movement or an imitation of the West?

NEW DELHI: “Women get nothing when they come out against perpetrators of sexual violence. They are, in fact, punished, stigmatised and slandered if they raise their voices against powerful men,” said journalist and author Barkha Dutt as she discussed the #MeToo movement, which has taken the Indian media and entertainment industry by storm in the last few months.

Discussing the origins of the movement with political writer Tavleen Singh and moderator Faye D’Souza, Dutt strongly supported the women who spoke out against “repeat offenders”.

While Singh criticised the movement for being “elitist”, contending that it was just an “imitation of the West”, Dutt disagreed, saying that the seeds of the movement were sown by a woman from a remote village in Rajasthan, Bhanwari Devi, a Dalit social worker who was gangraped by upper caste men for opposing the child marriage of a one-year-old girl in 1992.


“The Vishaka guidelines were a result of what a woman in rural India went through. We do not owe this movement to anyone else,” said Dutt, adding that #MeToo is an economic rights movement fighting for women’s rights to a safe working environment.

Singh, who dismissed it as a “buzzword” meant to cater to the English-speaking audience, said the movement treated women as “victims” with no agency. “In India we cannot deal with words like patriarchy and #MeToo. Here, women deal with widespread savagery and barbarism. And that is more urgent, more pressing,” she said, adding that she will lend support to the movement if it spread beyond a “certain class”.

D’souza, while disagreeing with Singh, said the movement — which has started from the “top” — will trickle down and help “babies who are treated like sex toys and girls who are ripped apart” in Indian heartlands. “Women now have a forum they can go to when they feel threatened. The movement has led to awareness and has been picked up by vernacular media. There is a platform now where women will be heard,” said D’souza, adding that the entire debate boils down to one issue — consent, a concept difficult to understand for a country which has grown up on Bollywood. “I take offence when people imply that women are objects to be liked or pursued. Bollywood may have perpetuated these beliefs but we won’t take this anymore. New voices will speak out and make things better for themselves and the next generation,” D’souza said.