through any hassle for our complaint, but because of their FIR, my father, spot boy and hairdresser were harassed for years,” she had said in an earlier interview. “I have no clue why they [complaints] were dismissed. The law and order system in our country works like that. People can do anything and then file a counter-FIR. FIRs don’t mean sh*t in our country,” she added.
The issue fizzled out just as suddenly as it had begun.
A DECADE LATER
When the Dutta-Patekar sexual harassment issue started gaining momentum early last week, several questions were raised about the actress’ rationale for bringing up the issue again: “Why did she wake up ten years later to talk about the same thing?”; “If it was real, appropriate investigations would have happened back then.”
As Dutta filed her complaint, she had also filed one with Cine & TV Artists Association (CINTAA) in March of 2008, whose then-functioning committee inappropriately evaluated the complaint. In a statement released on Tuesday, the association said, “...we feel that the decision taken in the Joint Dispute Settlement Committee of CINTAA and IFTPC (then known as Association of Motion Pictures and TV Programme Producers) in July 2008 was not appropriate, as the chief grievance of sexual harassment wasn’t even addressed.”
“BETI JAISI HAI”
In a press conference in 2008, when Patekar finally spoke about the sexual harassment allegations, he pleaded innocence with two arguments: “Tanushree is my daughter’s age and I have no clue about what made her say such things about me. I have been a part of this film industry for the last 35 years and haven’t had anyone say such things about me ever.”
But actress Renuka Shahane, who wrote an open letter about the issue, doesn’t believe these are substantial defences. “There is a difference between beti jaisi (like a daughter) and being someone’s daughter,” she says. Refusing to believe this line of thought, Shahane says, “If she really was beti jaisi, why was her comfort and consent to do the step not taken into consideration? If I genuinely considered someone my child, I would want to ensure their comfort around someone or in doing something. I wouldn’t threaten them with goons! Even so, the beti jaisi argument doesn’t hold ground because there are cases of fathers sexually abusing their daughters too.”
DISMISSED!
In Dutta’s case, a premeditated decision to dismiss her concerns is evident. Even today, despite video footage and eye-witnesses (journalist Janice Sequeira and assistant director on the sets of Horn OK Please Shynie Shetty) corroborating Dutta’s account, the blame game continues, distracting us from the issue at hand.
“I do not think that people are not believing her claims,” says Kavita Krishnan, secretary of All India Progressive Women’s Association. “It is a posture of disbelief - in the many cases that I have seen where people have chosen to say that the complainant must be lying or must be mad, they have very well known that the man in question is prone to doing that; it is an open secret. The posture is donned because people believe that this [harassment] is normal and that women should shut up and put up with it. And that it is the protesting [of sexual harassment] that is abnormal,” she adds.
Indeed.
When Telugu actress Sri Reddy raised her voice against a prominent Telugu producer’s son for forcing her to have sex with her, it didn’t take time for the Movie Artistes’ Association (MAA) to put a ban on her. When she decided to fight her battle alone by calling for attention with a nude protest right in front of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, MAA president Sivaji Raja went to the extent of calling it a “cheap publicity stunt,” adding that “action will be taken against any artiste who decides to share screen space with her.”
SHE IS DOING THIS FOR PUBLICITY, SHE WANTS TO DEFAME HIM
In high-profile sexual harassment cases, an immediate disregard comes with the assumption that the victim is talking about it for quick fame.
However, if there is anything that victims get from raising their voices is shame and stigma. “You are branded a troublemaker” says Krishnan, and it doesn’t just stop there. “Attempts are then made to discredit her story, her credentials - everything that the woman has worked towards. Tell me one instance where the woman has complained of sexual harassment and that has done any good to her career and her profile. If anything it is the opposite - it is extremely stressful and you are subjected to shame and guilt,” she adds.
In 2013, a single mother at a telecom giant accused her boss of sexually harassing her. While no action was taken against the perpetrator (even after an intervention from the National Commission for Women), the woman was quickly transferred to another office (from the telecom company’s Gomti Nagar office to Alambagh). When speaking with a publication, she had said, “My salary was deducted and I was forced to shift to the workstation adjacent to his... My official mail ID was closed without any information and my entry to the office was stopped.”
While the woman suffered, the perpetrator was reported saying, “It’s a false complaint with the motive of defaming me.”
Krishnan believes these comments are a part of the punishment inflicted on the woman for raising her voice. “It’s a punishment that every woman is subjected to. So you are being a part of the punishment and then claiming that she’s doing it for fame. The reason is simple: they don’t want such things to be said, they want to maintain the availability of the woman for sexual harassment - maintain her vulnerability, maintain the normalcy of sexual harassment,” she laments.
LISTEN > HEAR
It goes without saying that the accused is not guilty till proven so. But it doesn’t take much to listen to allegations when the issue is raised. “It is very important that we come around to acknowledging just how serious an issue sexual harassment is,” begins Shahane. “Dismissing a woman’s complaints on the basis of irrelevant distractions like fame, money and publicity is not going to help,” she asserts, adding that this refusal to listen will also affect cases of sexual harassment where men are the victims.
Conviction is one story, and solidarity and belief in the survivor is another.
TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR THE VICTIM: STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
When asked if there is any technical limitation to filing an FIR, advocate Kuldeep Nikam says FIRs can be filed at a delayed stage as well. “Generally, in cases of Section 376, there is a delay. The very reasonable rationale is the trauma and the stigma. In fact, the court, in a number of matters acknowledges this [delay],” he says. “A delay in any case, however, needs to be explained to the satisfaction of the court. Otherwise, it is going to go against you – this delay is a good defence for the accused,” he explains.
"If she really was beti jaisi, why was her comfort and consent to do the step taken into consideration? If I genuinely considered someone like my child, I want to ensure their comfort around someone or in doing something."
Renuka Shahane, actress
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