#MeToo collective hears 12 complaints at public hearing

CHENNAI: “We went to a restaurant to have dinner. Then he forced himself on me. I had to push him away to escape.” That was the testimony of one of the women against a Carnatic musician, at ‘ek potlee ret ki’, a public hearing organized by a me-too activists’ collective in the city on Sunday.
Participants read out 12 such allegations at the function.The cases were noted down by a panel comprising M P Nirmala, commissioner of Tamil Nadu Child Rights Commission, Semmalar, a social activist, Aishwarya Rao an expert on persons with disabilities and gender minorities, Tamil poet Salma, musician T M Krishna, transgender activist Swetha Sudhakar and lawyer Poongkhulali.
While identities of survivors were kept confidential, the names of the alleged perpetrators were read out. “Why should victims face isolation and stigma while violators go scot-free? They must be named and held accountable for their actions,” said T M Krishna. He also pointed out that most of the incidents read out in the hearing took place in cultural circles.“In India we consider the relationship between a guru and shishya very sacred, this also happens to be the most abused relationship. Several children end up being victimised by their gurus at their houses, and some end up thinking it as normal. It is not,” he said.
The collective also released a booklet titled ‘Towards Safer, Equal Spaces’.“Through this booklet we want to educate society as a whole in identifying sexual abuse and harassment and creating safer spaces for all,” said Aabha, a member of the collective.