September 24, 2020

What is the MeToo Movement in India? Things to Know about Metoo for Current Affairs

#MeToo, this simple hashtag on Twitter has become a global phenomenon. In 2017 this movement developed in the west and then spread almost all over the world. India and Korea are the countries which experienced the second wave of the movement.

Many MeToo cases and stories were being shared on different social media platforms recently. Those cases were coming from each level of the society be it Bollywood, media, entertainment etc. Women from all over the world have used #MeToo to name their alleged harassers.

In this article, you will get to know what is the MeToo campaign? and what is the MeToo movement in India? Read on to know it all and take your UPSC IAS current affairs preparation a level ahead.

What is the MeToo Campaign?

This is an international level movement against sexual harassment or abuse committed by powerful men of society. Women all over the world publicize the name of the alleged harassers through this movement. This movement became viral as a hashtag on different social media channels thus creating awareness about sexual assault and violence.

This movement empowered women to break their silence and shame those who should be ashamed of their deeds. In this name and shame format, women who have kept their suffering as a deep dark secret for years finally came out and openly took the name of the accused.

The MeToo movement has brought in notice various forms and cases of sexual assaults including unwelcomed gropes, extra caring seniors at the workplace, eve-teasing etc. This global movement has made the administrative people in charge take this as a serious problem and begin a redressal process.

What are MeToo Allegations?

From inappropriate or disrespectful behaviours to rape, many MeToo stories have been creating storms on social media platforms where many public and well-known personalities have been accused.

Many women who have shared their MeToo stories have revealed their identity where there are many others too who wished to keep their identity a secret. Below is a list of MeToo allegations which were done by women without hiding their identity.

MeToo Cases in India

Accused

MeToo case

Accused by

Status

Vairamuthu – Lyricist

  • Making physical advances
  • Sexual favours in exchange for a professional opportunity.

Chinmayi Sripaada

Allegation denied.

Zulfi Syed – Model-actor

  • Forcible sexual advances.

Natasha Hemrajani

Syed apologises to Hemrajani

Piyush Mishra – Writer-actor

  • Unwelcome advances.

Ketki Joshi.

Mishra apologises for hurting.

Aditi Mittal – Comedienne

  • Kissing without consent on stage.

Kaneez Surka

Mittal issues an unconditional apology.

Zain Durrani – Actor

  • Physical violence and mental torture.

Saloni Chopra

No comment.

Manoj Ramachandran – Journalist

  • Sending an inappropriate text message.

Sandhya Menon

No statement.

Prashant Jha – Journalist

  • Sending inappropriate, unwelcome messages.

Avantika Mehta

Accused taken down from the position of the chief of the bureau and political editor of Hindustan Times

Sham Kaushal – Stunt director

  • Showing a lady colleague a porn clip.

Nameeta Prakash

Accused apologised for hurting inadvertently.

Vinod Dua – Journalist

  • Sexual harassment.

Nishtha Jain

Allegations referred to as mudslinging by the accused.

Shahid Datawala – Photographer

  • Accused of molestation.

Amaaya Dasgupta

Datawala’s exhibition dropped from Gallery TARQ. Unconditional public apology issued by the accused.

Infamous MeToo Bollywood Cases

This global movement shook India and the entertainment industry was the most affected industry. While some of the accused got a clean chit, some are still struggling within the industry due to these allegations.

Bollywood actor Nana Patekar was accused by former actress Tanushree Dutta for sexually harassing her during the shooting of one movie. The actor denied the allegation and filed a police complaint against Dutta.

Alok Nath, a popular television actor was accused of rape by writer-director Vinta Nanda and sexual advances by Actress Sandhya Mridul.

Bollywood director Sajid Khan was accused by many women that include Saloni Chopra, Priyanka Bose, Mandana Karimi etc.

Want to know more about MeToo Movement in India, click here