#MeToo

Vaidehi Mehta

This is a spur of the moment post in reaction to the viral hashtag #metoo. Influx pledges its solidarity with #metoo, and its support to anyone subjected to sexual harassment, be it physical or verbal.

“Me too… If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem. Please copy/paste.”

The allegations of sexual harassment against 65-year old Hollywood film producer, Harvey Weinstein, have spawned the #MeToo hashtag that is going viral with thousands of women across the globe taking to Facebook and Twitter and copy-pasting the call-out above.

Too, many thousands of women have been responding and recounting personal experiences of harassment. The call for solidarity has undoubtedly resonated with women — and many, many right thinking men — who have shed their qualms about speaking up against a sensitive subject such as this. Yes, men too have felt victimised by this malaise, but never to the extent or frequency that it has affected women, children and transgenders,

That this call to post with the hashtag #MeToo is drawing such a response is an eye-opener, even in a time that social media is providing a platform for people to air and exchange views on what matters to them. People are opening up and sharing stories that are appalling, tragic and, sometimes, even shocking.

It takes courage to speak about such sexual harassment anywhere, the sense of victimisation and the what-did-you-do-for-this-to-happen attitude that prevails far more than we like to admit or acknowledge. Influx applauds every one of the people who have had the courage to share their stories.

While we all say that we need to sensitise society and stop perpetrators, what is #MeToo really doing to stop gender-based violence or harassment in society in general, and in the home and workplace in particular?

Would you post about your own experiences of sexual harassment? If not, why? Please do share your views with us here and here.

Influx as a company — with everyone who works here — is taking a pledge to stand up and speak out against sexual harassment of any sort, regardless of the gender of the person who is harassed, and regardless of the position of the harasser.

Updated on 24 October 2017 #

To continue with #metoo, we conducted a poll on Twitter asking why women hesitate to speak out against sexual harassment. The results are interesting:

On Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, we posted quotes of well-known women whose narrations have touched us, using the hashtags #L3ETSBEBRAVE with #METOO.

It gladdened our hearts when Mona Eltahawy responded to our post of her tweet.

Reference: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-16/what-is-the-metoo-campaign/9055926