After some dissimulation, a reluctant MJ Akbar has, at last, shown inexpedient wisdom in bowing out of his office. The development is a minor, nonetheless significant, triumph for the MeToo movement that has caught the imagination of traumatized women professionals. It is not about retribution, or an example being made of one or two degenerates, be that as it may, wholly satisfying. The movement has an expansive purpose — unqualified safety of a woman at her workplace. If the pressure eases in the middle of the road, the ‘uprising’ will have been in vain.

It was in 1997 that the Vishakha Guidelines were introduced to handle harassment cases and became the foundation of the Sexual Harassment of Woman at Workplace Act passed in 2013. The Act mandates an employer to set up a 10-member complaints committee, and the government committees at the district level, to investigate such complaints. These may, however, be non-existent in most establishments. It is time to clean up the Augean stables and ensure that workplaces are compliant with the law.

The onus is on the employer to provide a safe environment. The implications of indulging in such acts, and what comprises sexual misconduct, must be taken up at awareness programs to sensitize employees. A list of committee members and their phone numbers must be displayed conspicuously. Action should be swift and non-partisan. There is no need for more laws and endless committees. A robust redress system will see it through. Stripping a woman of dignity, terrorizing her to either succumb or quit, sometimes at the great cost of pushing her back into the cocoon of society’s making, is inadmissible. Any complaint that goes unaddressed propagates predatory behavior and emboldens the perpetrator. Power or position cannot be allowed to be used for personal gratification, be it sexual in nature, or aggrandizement. It is encouraging that women are shedding the tatters of self-inflicted shame to find their voice. The golden in silence does not always shine through. As fellow travelers and comrades, let us spur them on their tedious journey.

(Tribune, India)