“And….what exactly were you wearing?”
It can be said that all the rape victims have to answer this ‘inevitable’ question. As if the real cause of the crime is hidden in the dress. Almost all the survivors of sexual assault get this question thrown at their faces. This action, it is felt, is enough to humiliate the victim yet again. Clothes – worn by victims during those moments of crime – had been on display at an exhibition in Brussels, the Belgian capital. The exhibition – titled ‘What were you wearing?’ – was aimed at shutting down the myth that provocative clothing is the main factor in sexual crimes.
To address the most pervasive myth of rape culture, organisers displayed survivors’ clothing at the January 8-20 exhibition. CAW East Brabant, a victim support group that organised the event, said that the message was: It’s absurd to blame the dress code in case of a rape. The clothes included tracksuit bottoms, pyjamas and other dresses, which would not normally ‘provoke’ the perpetrator to indulge into this crime. Liesbeth Kennes of CAW stressed on their mission of putting a stop to the suffering of these victims by effectively sensitising people through this exhibition. “There is even a children’s shirt with an image of ‘My Little Pony’ in the exhibition, which brings home a harsh reality. Behind those figures are people of flesh and blood, women, men and children. Our society discourages victims from speaking about what they have experienced,” she said.

Recently, TV star Oprah Winfrey has claimed that a new day has arisen in the horizon for girls. Her claim, made at the stage of ‘Golden Globes’ award, received a huge respectful applause. It would be a mistake, if we ignore the protests – staged by Hollywood stars – against sexual harassment. Performers have taken enough risks while publicly bringing sexual harassment charges against the influential producers and actors. They also invited some leaders of women’s rights movements to attend the event, indicating that their quest to reclaim their dignity was not over. They are currently leading movements against the oppression of female workers and housewives. Of course, the actresses wanted to use the prestigious event for a larger purpose by bringing those leaders in front of the camera and presenting them on the red carpet in black attire. The Hollywood has decided to continue with the movement against sexploitation.

The ‘#MeToo’ movement has also been spread rapidly from the US to 85 countries in the world. A member of the US Senate has resigned after being accused of harassing women sexually. A senior British minister, too, had to resign. Even in Norway and Austria, two ministers left the government after committing the same ‘crime’.
However, a section of the global community has raised questions against the rationality and morality of this movement. According to them, it’s not fair to reveal the identity of offenders on the social media without proper investigation and giving them the opportunity of self-defence. Perhaps, it’s wrong to force a person to resign on the basis of a complaint. French actress Catherine Deneuve and her 99 associates have warned against this ‘new ethics’. When a list of professors – accused of sexually harassing women in India – was published in social media a couple of months ago, a section of feminists made the same objection.

Oprah Winfrey

Both the exhibition in Brussels and the protest at the Golden Globes award ceremony are noble gestures. However, the problem is that a society cannot ensure justice, if there is an inequality of power. Then, the society ignores the ‘big’ iniquity. The ‘story’ of millions of women has recently been published because of this movement. The stories of rape, sexual harassment, deprivation and other crimes against women have surprised the entire world. It is evident in those stories that when the man is ‘strong’, then the society considers the woman (read the victim) as ‘unworthy’ or ‘incompetent’. So, the top grade Hollywood actresses silently tolerated torture by producer Harvey Weinstein. This indignity has brought them closer to the Mexican girls working in farms or the African-American girls working in restaurants. The strength of women’s rights movement lies in the power of this relationship.

The debate over whether the supporters of #MeToo movement commit a mistake will go on. But, we have to admit that they have successfully sensitised the people about the widespread injustice against women. We should appreciate those ‘obstinate’ girls for taking a serious step to end this inequality.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das