The recent outing of Harvey Weinstein as a serial sexual harasser has kickstarted the critical conversation on sexual abuse. Ever since the Hollywood filmmaker’s crimes came to light, people have been coming out on social media to talk about their encounters with sexual harassment to highlight the gravity of the situation. In view of the #MeToo crusade, advocate Raya Sarkar decided to take on the system of sexual harassment that has scarred the lives of innumerable victims, especially women. Sarkar took the liberty of compiling a crowd-sourced list of professors in Indian universities, accusing them of sexual harassment.
The ‘Name and Shame’ list, which has the names of 60 academic from across the nation, has sparked a debate on whether one must be allowed to publicly shame others on the basis of mere allegations. Others seem to believe this is just the online manifestation of the complex apparatus of women helping other women by making them aware of the possible dangers around them. Even feminists are polarised on the subject. While most people agreed that this would help amplify the voice of survivors and help do away with victim-shaming, others, including women activists at Kafila.online stated they were “dismayed by the initiative on Facebook.”
Indian comedian Aditi Mittal strongly backed the move in a series of tweets:
1. I know shit about ethics/ethics of lists
2. More often than not women talk to each other, we warn each other abt potential & known creeps— Aditi (@awryaditi) October 25, 2017
Mittal among others believes that the list is no different from a woman warning others about predatory men. Hence, it was important for such a list to surface rather than keeping quiet about the traumatic experience of sexual harassment.
3. The FB lists are merely a readable version of this system that women are developing in order to protect each other.
— Aditi (@awryaditi) October 25, 2017
5. The world has taught us time and time again that there is NO JUSTICE for calling out your abusers and harassers.
— Aditi (@awryaditi) October 25, 2017
7. If anything your wounds will be ripped open for the world to see and then you’ll be called a liar and side-eyed by people you trusted.
— Aditi (@awryaditi) October 25, 2017
9. There is no justice for the exclusion from professional spaces, there is no calming of the mental trauma that harassment bestows.
— Aditi (@awryaditi) October 25, 2017
10. As I said,I don’t know shit about ethics /ethics of lists.But I’m memorising each name on that list coz it means safety from harassment
— Aditi (@awryaditi) October 25, 2017
The ones in support of the list speak about the failure of the judicial system and having no other “fair” choice than to name and shame alleged harassers publicly. If people continue to stay quiet about sexual harassment and offer the same anonymity that we should to victims, we might never have a chance of vanquishing such crimes.
Does anyone vet a whisper network for impartiality? No. This is just that, collated, because society and the justice system have failed us.
— Khemta H. Jose (@khemtajose) October 25, 2017
You’re joking right? Where else will you get this list if people aren’t given an opportunity to speak out?
— Sarah Saheed (@24redskittles) October 25, 2017
With this Raya Sarkar’s post, I am compelled to end friendships with people I thought were allies. I did see this coming but still difficult
— Kaustubh (@shankasur) October 24, 2017
Raya Sarkar’s list isn’t exhaustive, and so shouldn’t our efforts in complicating the dialogue of power, privilege, and harassment be.
— Shubhangani (@ShubhanganiJ) October 25, 2017
Down with due process of law. Hang/lynch any/everyone whose name appears on a crowdsourced anon excel sheet.
— Dushyant (@atti_cus) October 24, 2017
Clearly RayaSarkar’s list deserves our support. Due process has failed women for too long. But my support comes with a fair bit of unease.
— visvak (@visvak) October 25, 2017
Others debated that making such a list public is “irresponsible” as there, men are marked as harassers with “no context or explanation.” A few names in the list have been proven guilty of sexual crimes, however, placing them among others, who are only mired by unestablished allegations is unethical.
A crowd sourced list of sexual predators is a really bad idea. It’s libel, prone to misuse and very irresponsible. Please stop
— Veena Venugopal (@veenavenugopal) October 24, 2017
True. And its so irresponsible.
— Smriti Kak (@smritikak) October 24, 2017
Raya Sarkar is pure cancer this is likely nothing more than a cheap accusation against UC academics.
— Brahmavarman (@Brahmavarman04) October 24, 2017
Some even highlighted that such a crowd-sourced list, that is based solely on allegations, could also easily be abused for defamation. They argued for proper vetting and establishment of the crime before we term someone a sexual harasser.
I understand what you mean, and given the clear failure of justice delivered, and the huge harm in even pursuing justice. It’s important…
— Omair Ahmad (@OmairTAhmad) October 25, 2017
… suggesting names have been left out, or included, for politically (or personally) partisan reasons, undermining the effort. But, as a…
— Omair Ahmad (@OmairTAhmad) October 25, 2017
… man I will never have to deal with this type of thing, so maybe there is a way to vet such lists for partiality? I honestly don’t know..
— Omair Ahmad (@OmairTAhmad) October 25, 2017
What about you? Are you in support of Raya Sarkar’s list or do you think it is unethical? Tell us in the comments below.
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