Sexual harassment cases are based on disproportionate distribution of power. The harasser has power; the victim does not. It is ironic, even if only as an irrelevant aside, that the name of the actor caught on camera asking for sexual favours is Shakti. More ironic is that even as the channel that conducted the sting operation adopted the rhetoric of discouraging women’s exploitation, it exploited its undercover female employee every time it risked her physical and psychological well-being by posing her as the sexual bait. Equally damaging to the cause of women’s emancipation, moreover, are channels and publications that adopt the same rhetoric of “we care so much about our women” while airing this story but go on to endorse views that either patronisingly exhort women to “dress and behave properly”, or sanctimoniously denounce women who give in to sexual advances by calling them “equal participants” in the deed.Let’s get one thing straight: there is nothing “equal” in cases of sexual harassment, especially cases where a woman is the victim. In a country where only a few women enjoy privileges, benefits and status equal to that of men, while many — despite changing laws — continue to be denied not only their rights to inherit property, to access good education or healthcare, to marry the person of their choice or marry when and if they choose, to reproduce when and if they choose but also sometimes their very right to live, is it really surprising that some women resort to demeaning their bodies as the only means to empowering themselves? If women’s equality is about women taking equal responsibility for their deeds, let Indian society first level the playing field, before it dares to call some Indian women loose and/or immoral.Let’s get another thing straight: people who care about women do not try to control them, or restrict their freedoms by telling them to dress and behave “non-provocatively”. How does one define “non-provocative” in any case? Fact is that people who care about women fight for women’s right to enjoy the same freedoms that men do: the right to think independently, voice opinions freely, move safely and fearlessly in society, earn and/or inherit wealth and property equitably. They treat women as human beings. Most importantly, they teach boys to respect girls — instead of teaching girls that “boys will be boys” — even as they teach girls to respect themselves, and their own bodies. People who care about women do not prevent them from wearing jeans and skirts, or lock them up at home telling them it is for their “own good.”If we really care about our women, let’s stop teaching girls that “life is a compromise so learn to adjust”. Let’s focus on placing the burden of shame where it belongs — on sexual predators, not victims. Let’s open up to the idea of changing Indian men, not only Indian women. Let’s create a space where women do not live in fear of men. Let’s relate to women with greater empathy, and show them that it is not their fault, every time!
