Is Being a Woman a Punishment?

Is Being a Woman a Punishment?

Indrani Medhi

“I decided to call it rape because I was blacked out drunk and I was taken advantage of. I don’t remember what happened. It’s my truth and no one can take that away from me. It’s my story,” said Haley Jakobson. Sharing her experience as a rape survivor has been empowering for Jakobson. “Me too, and I was blamed for it. I was told not to talk about it,” said one woman. “I was nine years old when the child sexual abuse started,” said another. “It took me years to label what happened to me as sexual assault. No one would even dare to suspect I've been raped. But I have. It happened to me,” said Pittsburgh city Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak. “I was being harassed daily,” said Wolfe Herd, the founder, and CEO of the social platform Bumble.

A huge number of sexual assault and harassment survivors are sharing their stories online today. An untold number of women posted “#MeToo” and revealed their deeply intimate experiences of physical abuse. Their stories flooded social media and painted a picture of just how many people endure sexual abuse and harassment everyday. The hashtag MeToo (#MeToo) is now trending in the social media as a campaign to illustrate the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault.

At the wake of the sex scandal wherein American film producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of rape, it was American actress and social activist Alyssa Milano who launched the campaign '#MeToo' for people to speak up if they have ever experienced sexual harassment or assault. "If all the women who have ever been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me too' as a status, then we give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem," she tweeted.

The massive response to #MeToo that demonstrated many personal stories are just the tip of the iceberg. Women today want to spread a greater understanding of how often sexual harassment and assault happens in our society. The two words have been repeated millions of times since last year on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram showing the power and speed that social media can deploy. Some women online are even calling for men to admit when they have harassed or assaulted someone. As a result, '#IHave' is doing the rounds in social media. But what are we doing to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem? Does being a woman mean losing her own self respect?

#MeToo is a mere reminder to our society that sexual harassment is a real problem. Sexual harassment and assault is not just a country’sproblem, it is a problem of our society. For years, women have been suppressed, forced, used and abused. Sexual harassment is a grave issue which has been conveniently ignored by many since ages, sadly, even by women. It is ridiculous to see the number of women who have faced the culture of sexual harassment and how it has been normalised by our society. It is shameful to see how majority of womenaround the world have been downgraded to just sexual objects by many. The problem of sexual harassment of women is not a new development but an old phenomenon of showing the dominance of men in society. Sexual harassment is one of those problems which play a bad role by discouraging women in taking the active part in economic and social development. It is a demanding and offensive experience one can suffer be it at a workplace or an institution or at home.

Sexual harassment is, above all, a manifestation of power relations. It is more about power than just sex. Women are much more likely to be victims of sexual harassment precisely because they more often lack power than men and are in more vulnerable and insecure positions, lack self-confidence, or have been socialized to suffer in silence. In order to understand why women endure the vast majority of sexual harassment, it is important to look at the underlying causes of the phenomenon.

According to surveys conducted, one out of every ten women around the world are raped or sexually assaulted during their lives, while more than half of all women living with men have experienced an a battering or similar incident of domestic violence or emotional trauma.

Sexual violence against women may be verbal, physical or even visual which may exist everywhere, be it public places, public transport, school, educational institutions, workplace or even at home. Age is not a concern. Either a little school girl or a middle-aged lady all are same in the eyes of harassers. Harassers are just like hungry beasts who just want a prey to satisfy their hunger. Sexual harassment is closely connected to male attitude and mindsets. Surveys on men's perception of masculinity indicate that the leading definition of masculinity is being 'a good provider for his family'. Some men perceive the 'economic equality for women' as a threat to their traditional role. Thus, sexual assault is a form of violence perceived as self-protection. Due to this irrational and undesirable behavior of men in and outside homes, life today for every girl is at the edge.

Even after so many efforts by the government, the cases for sexual harassment have seen no decline. The people who are assigned for our help, that is the cops and officers are even themselves seen as harassers in many cases. The provisions contain several loopholes which can be exploited easily by the harasser in his favor. The provisions and laws need to be more comprehensive to provide justice to those who have been victims and a means of protection for those who could be potential victims.

But still, there is a fear and a sense of delirium haunting among the victims to mirror out their truths. Had women not feared to come forward with their say, their problems, and complaints, they would have felt eloquent and courageous to speak out for themselves and point out their assailants. Even Draupadi would have filed a case of sexual assault against the Kauravas for the horrific day when her husband Yudhishthira pawned her to his cousin Duryodhana during a game and she was groped and sexually harassed in front of her husbands and their entire family. Nobody came forward to help her. They just stood around silently, watching her suffer.

Top Headlines

No stories found.
Sentinel Assam
www.sentinelassam.com