WhatI

sMi
ssi
ngI
nthe
#MeTooMov
ement?
Howcanwet alkaboutsexualhar assmenti nt hecont extofasex-
negativeatmospher ewher econv ersationsar oundsexandsexual it
y
areconsider edtaboo?Whoandwhati sexcl udedf rom theav ai
lable
redressalmechani smsf orsexualhar assmentaswel lasf rom t he
l
argermov ement ?Thr ought hesequest i
ons,t hi
sar ti
cleexami nes
the#MeToomov ementandt helimitati
onsoft hecriminaljust i
ce
system andduepr ocess. 
Therear esev eralpar all
elsbetweent he#MeToomov ementi nt he
UnitedSt atesandi nI ndia.IntheUS,Tar anaBur ke,anAf ri
can
Amer icanwomancoi nedt hephrase“ Met oo”i n2006wi thanai m
to helpsur vivorsandr ai
seawar enessont heper vasivenessof
sexualabuseandassaul t.Thephr asegai nedpr ominencei n2017,
when sev eralwomen i n Holl
ywood spokeup aboutt hesexual
harassmentper petratedbyf il
m producer ,HarveyWei nstein. 
Inthecont extofI ndia,RayaSar kar,aDal i
tQueerPhDSchol ar,put
togethera Li stofSexualHar asser sin Academi a( LoSHA)on
Facebooki nOct ober2017.Bot htheLoSHAandt heresponsest oi t
bypromi nentf eministsledtoanupr oaronsocialmedi a.Howev er,
witht hedi scussionnotmov ingbey ondnami ngandshami ng,the
conver sati
on di ed down shor tl
yt hereaf
ter.Whi l
e a coupl e of
academi ci
ansment ionedont hel i
stwer efoundguil
tywhenof f
icial
enquirieswer et akenup,mostot her sfacednor epercussionsand
therewasno newsofanyi nquirybei ng ini
ti
ated againstthem
(Dasgupt a2018) . 
Almostay earl at
er ,i
n2018, t
he#MeToomov ementissaidtohave
fi
nall
yhitthecount r
ywhenBol l
ywoodcelebri
tieshavebeennamed
(Dattaetal2018) .Thedialoguethatwasi ni
ti
atedwiththeLoSHA
wascompl etelyerased,muchi nt hesamewayt hatTaranaBurke
was notacknowl edged bymostoft he Amer i
can mediafora
mov ementi niti
atedbyher( Bl
ackburnCenter2018).Therewer e
alsospeculat i
onsonsoci almediat hatt
heLoSHAdi dnotgetas
muchat tentionbecausei twasi nit
iat
edbyay oungDalitwoman
anddi
dnothav
ethesuppor
toft
hel
argerf
emi
nistmov
ement
.
TheLegalGazeandt
hePer
fectVi
cti
m

Onedi ff
er encebetweent heLoSHAandt he#MeToot estimonial
sof
2018wast hat,i
nt helatt
er ,thet esti
moni esofhar assmenthad
detail
saboutt henatureofv iolence,andt herebyacer tai
nassertive
construction oft he “vi
cti
mhood”oft he v i
cti
m.Rober tHor witz
(2018)wr i
tesabouthowv ictimhoodhasbecomea“ pivotalmeans
bywhi chi ndivi
dualsandgr oupsseet hemselvesandconst i
tute
themselv esaspol i
ti
calact ors.”Itembodi esadecl arati
onoft he
wrongssuf feredandacl ai
mt ojusti
ce.Inor dertober ecognisedas
av ict
im ofi njust
ice,the indi v
idual
sort he groupshav eto be
acknowl edgedasmor all
yent it
ledtosocial concern.
Resil
ience t ov iol
ence is sold as a pr escr
ipt i
vet ooland i tis
assumedt obet heonlywayt obehear d( Mehr i2018) .Resil
ienceis
measur edagai nstahi er
archi
calscale.Thepol iti
csofr ecognit
ionof
theviolencei sapol i
ticsthatwantsv i
cti
mst or esistphy si
call
yand
str
ongly ,andone’ straumahast obeact edaccor dinglyinorderfor
i
ttober ecognised.Onehast oplayoutt her esil
iencet oaki ndof
cli
ckbaitv oyeuri
sm, f
orpeopl etobeablet odeci dewhet hertheyare
the“perfectv i
ctim.”
 
Derri
da( 2002)wr i
test hatt hereisadi sti
nct i
onbet weenl aw and
j
ustice,becauseel ement sofcal culat
ionexisti nlaw, andjusti
ce, on
theot herhand,i si ncal culabl
e.Hef ur
therdet ail
show,i nl egal
mechani sms,wher eabi nar yofcr i
meandj ust i
cear eestabl
ished,
cri
mesar eal socategorisedonascal eofsev eri
ty.Itisfoundedon
aprincipleofr et
ri
but i
veandv i
olentj
usti
ce.Hence,t hepr i
ncipleon
whicht hel egalsystem wor ksdemandst hatv oy euri
sticdetail
sof
cri
mesbegi venasev i
dencesoast oensur ejust i
ce.Thesur vivors
areexpect edt or
etellever yaspectofwhatf eltasv i
olence.
 
Of t
en,incaseofsexualv i
olence,itbecomesextremelydi
ff
icul
tto
pinpoi
ntt he exactfactor
st hatmade one f eelvi
olat
ed.Whi l
e
viol
ati
onofconsenti sbecomi ngthewayt ounderst
andsexual
viol
enceandabuse,consenti tsel
fisnotasi mpleyesorno.The
foll
owingsecti
onsdiscussthisinmor edetai
l
. 
TheCont
extofSexNegat
ivi
ty
BoseandSen( 2018)wr i
tet hatthehy st
eri
calafter
mat hof#MeToo
has r esulted i n a di sservice to t he fi
ght agai nst sexual
harassment /mol estati
on/ r
apebyshi fti
ngintoapol it
icsoff emal e
victi
mhood,empat hy,and r evenge.They wr itethat#MeToo’ s
“regressiv
elymor alimpactonacademi a”hasr esul
ted inacont ext
ofsexnegat ivi
tyandsaf etyhasbecomet henew r adicalfeminist
vocabul ar
yi nplaceofr i
sk,byshi ft
ingtherhetori
coft ransgressi
on
to a demand f orsaf ety( Bose and Sen 2018) .Thei rargument
reducest her i
ghtt ofeelsaf eandt heneedf oraccount abil
i
tytot he
i
nst i
tuti
on’sprotectionistattit
ude. 
Idi sagree witht he r eading thatt he #MeToo mov ementhas
resultedinanatmospher eofsexnegat i
vity.Saf
etyi
snotawor dof
sexnegat i
vi
ty.Ont heot herhand,saf etyi sanecessi tyforan
environmentofsexposi ti
vi
tytoflourish.Tobeabl etopr act
isesafe
andheal thysexualandi nti
mat epartnerrelati
onshi
ps,itisessential
to hav e conversations ar ound sex and sexual i
ty.Thi si s only
possibleinacont extwher et her
ei snot abooassociatedwi thsex
andsexual i
ty.
BoseandSen( 2018)al sohi ghlighthowpoweri sat tr
activeandt he
fi
eldofdesi reandsexual ityi snev erdev oidofpower .Hence,t he
teacheri nt hecl assr oom whoexudespoweri sal sot hesubj ectof
desire.The  Uni versityGr antsCommi ssion( Prev ention,Prohi biti
on
andRedr essalofSexualHar assmentofWomenEmpl oyeesand
Student sinHi gherEducat ional Instituti
ons)Regul ations,2015, i
nan
attempt t o pr otect women, hav e cr eated an er ot
o- phobi c
atmospher ei ntheuni versitybycr eat i
ngt hei mageoft hepr ofessor
ast hement or.Theuni versityandt hecl assroom spaceshoul dnot
beer oto-phobi c,somuchsot hatt hespacei sdev oidofdesi re,and
thatst udent sar econst antlyundert hepr otectionistsur vei
llanceof
thei nst i
tute.Whenev ert herei sademandf orsaf etyagai nstsexual
harassmenti ncampuses, i
nst it
utionshandl et hei ssuebyi mposi ng
mor er ules ofdr ess,ent r
yt imings,orbehav iour,and cont rol
mechani smssuchasCCTVsandi ncr easedsecur i
tyonoccupant s
oft hecampus,wi thoutacknowl edgi ngt heirdesi res.Thisdoesnot
addr esst hepr oblem ofhar assment ,buti nsteadmakesi tmor e
diffi
cul tforpeopl et oseekr edr essalbecauset heyar escar edoft he
quest ioningandv icti
m shami ngt hatt heymayhav etof ace.
Despi
tet
his,
asdi
scussedear
li
er,
consenti
snotasi
mpl
eyesorno.
Notal lconsensualtr
ansacti
onsar efreeofcoer ci
on.Coer cioncan
alsowor kinseeminglyconsensualway s.Wel i
veinasoci etythatis
l
ar gelysexnegat i
veandhet er
o-patri
archal.Whileindiv
idualswho
aresoci al
isedaswomenar elargelytaughtnott oseekorev en
desi r
esex,i ndi
vi
dualswhoar esocialisedasmenar et aughtt o
pur suet hewomen. Hasi
   
tohphasi (
ifshesmi l
es,shehasf al
leninto
thet rap)istherhetor
icthatBoll
ywoodhast aughtus.Iti
st hesame
atmospher eofsexnegat i
vi
tythatalsoleadst ogendersegr egation
dur i
ngadol escentandteenageyears.
In 2016–18,I was par t of a r esear ch st udy interrogat ing
discr i
mi nat i
on based on non- normat i
v egender sand sexual ities,
fundedbyFor dFoundat ionandbasedi nt heAdv ancedCent ref or
Women’ s St udi
es, at Tat a I nsti
tute of Soci al Sci ences,
Mumbai . 
[
1]
The team st udy i
ng t he educat i
on space,i ncludi ng
Chay anikaShahandme,f ocusedondi scriminat ionineducat ional
spaces. [2]
Oneofourmet hodswast oconducti n-depthlif
ehi stor y
i
nt erviewswi t
hqueerper sonswhower eassi gnedgendermal eat
birth.Dur ingtheseinteractions,wel earntt hatt he“ making”oft he
boy si ntomeni susual l
yv eryv iolentandmar kedbyal otofpeer
policing. As chi ldr
en appr oach puber t
y and dev el
op sexual
attraction,t heyaresegr egat edont hebasi sofgendersot hatt hey
donotactupont hisattractionbecauseoft aboosassoci atedwi th
non- mar i
talsexuali
ty.Thisleadst othecr eationofgender edspaces
wher e soci ali
sat
ion into becomi ng theirassi gned gendert akes
place.Vi olence and bul lyi
ng,bot h phy sicaland ot herwise,i s
nor mal i
sedi nexclusivel
ymen’ sspaces.Thi sv iolenceisi nflicted
bot hbyadul t
saswel lasbypeer s, andisalsoof tensexual innat ur e.
Anyki ndofgendernon- nor mat i
vit
yi smetwi thhi ghdegr eeof
puni shment . 
Whi l
ethemaki ngofwomenandf emini
nit
yisdiscussedi nfemi nist
cir
clesandmanypar ent
stodaytrytosocial
isetheirdaughterst obe
mor eindependent,themakingofmeni srarel
ydi scussedthr ough
the feministlens.This kind ofgendersegr egated socialisi
ng
stemmi ngf r
om sexnegat i
vit
yandpat ri
archyleadst odi f
ferent i
al
social
isat
ionwher et heissueofconsentbecomescompl i
cat ed.
Thisisbecausemenandwomenar enottaughttoexer ci
seconsent
i
nt hesameway .I
njusti
ceandv i
olencebeginfr
om t hi
spointitself.
 
Whoi
stheMei
n#MeToo?
Since#MeTooisanat t
emptt ogiverecogni
ti
ontotheviolenceone
hasfacedandrequir
estheperformanceofbeingtheperfectvict
im,
i
tbr i
ngsustothequesti
onofwhocanaf f
ordtoactual
l
ycomeout
withthestor
yofabuse.Besidesthet r
aumaofhav i
ngt or el
i
vet he
experi
encewhencomi ngoutwi t
ht hestory,whatistheki ndof
supportt
hatsur
viv
orsareli
kelytoget?
Womenandqueerper sonsf rom dif
ferentsociallocationshav e
questi
onedthe“Me”i n#MeToo.Ev enwhiletheyhav espokenabout
theexclusi
onar
ynat ureoft he#MeToomov ement,theyhav ealso
spokenoft hedif
ferentki ndsofr esi
stanceagai nstv i
olencethat
theyhaveundert
akeni nt heirever
ydaylives,andwi t
hin,aswellas
for,
thei
rcommunities. 
Mi miMondalwr i
test hati ntersect ionality,whi chseekst odi smant l
e
cast e al ongsi de env i
sagi ng gender i nequal it
y,shoul d be t he
appr oachoff emi nistmobi li
sat ion,becauset heirperpetratorshav e
beendomi nantcast emen,mi xedcast emen,menf r
om t heirown
cast e, aswel lasdomi nantcast ewomen.I ft he#MeToor esistance
i
snotmar kedbyani nt ersectionalappr oach,t henitisnotenough
(Mondal2018) .TheKashmi riwomen’ sst atemental soput st hei
r
resi st ancet ov i
olencewi thinacont extofar myoccupat ionanda
mov ementf orsel f-det ermi nation( RaiotCol l
ect i
ve2018) .Women
from t heNor thEasthav econt ext ualisedt he#MeToomov ementi n
termsofr acialpr ejudi ce,howt hebodi esofwomenf r
om t heNor th
Eastar eper cei ved byt her estoft hecount r
y,and how power
struct uresoft hecommuni tyand l ocalj usticesy stemsoper ate
wi thint he r egi on ( Gupt a 2018) .The v oice of per sons wi th
disabi lit
iesi sal sol argel ymi ssingf r
om t he#MeToomov ement
despi tet he cont i
nued abuse,t orture,r ape,and human r i
ghts
violat ionst heyf acei ni nst i
tuti
ons, school s, publicspaces, andt hei
r
homes ( Goy al2018) .Goy al 
al so t alks abouthow women wi th
disabi lit
ies ar e of t en seen as bei ng asexualorsexual l
yl ess
desi r able, andhence, theirhar assmentof tengoesunacknowl edged.
Thel egalpr ocessi snotdi sabl e- i
nclusi ve,bei tint ermsoft he
av ailabi li
tyofcompl aintf orms i n Br aill
e oraccess t o suppor t
ser vices. Ther e hav e been no st or i
es f rom peopl ei n t he
unor gani sedsect or, t
hel argestpopul ationofl abour,inthe#MeToo
mov ementei t
her .Thi scoul dbebecauset hel ackofaccesst o
technol ogyort hepr ecar i
tyoft henat ureoft r
ansactionsi nvolvedin
thissector.Forinstance,i
nt heabsenceofanoffi
cialcontr
actof
transact
ions,everythi
ngf r
om one’sjobtowagesoral locat
ionof
duties,dependsupont hesupervisor
.Undersuchcircumstances,
thesuper vi
sorcanuset heirpowertosexual
l
yexploitthewor ker
andt her
eisnor edressalmechanism t
otur
nto. 
Theser esi
stanceshaveoftennotfeat
uredint
hepopulardiscourse,
perhapsbecauset heyar enotseenast heperf
ectv ict
ims.The
#MeToomov ementalsodoesnotseem t ohavet
akencogni sance
oft heseresist
antvoices.Inst
ead,ithasbecome“ onemoment ”
wher ethemedi aandt hesocialmediaseem to hav esuddenly
real
isedtheper v
asi
venessofgenderedandsexual
violence.
 
Throught henar rati
vesofwomenacr osslocations,i tbecomes
clearthatforpeopl ecomi ngfrom mar ginal
isedcommuni ti
es,itis
toughertober ecogni sedast hesur v i
vorandt obehear d,bothby
theirowncommuni tyaswel lasbyt hest rangeront hei nter
net .
Whent hesurvi
vorandt heper petratorcomef rom v astlydiff
erent
socio-
economicl ocations,ev enift hesur viv
orgat herst hecour age
to speak aboutt he violence,t heyar e notbel iev
ed and of ten
shamed.Thi shasbeenseeni ncasesl ikethoseofBhanwar iDev ii
n
Rajasthan,and ofNaf issatou Di all
o,aBl acki mmi granti n New
York. 
Incaseswher ebotht heabuserandt heabusedar ef r
om si milar
l
ocat i
ons,of tenther esponseoft hecommuni tyist opr otectthe
menoft hecommuni t
y.Thi sbecomesespeci al
lyr el
evantwhen
botht hesur vi
vorandt heper petr
atorscomef r
om mar ginal
ised
l
ocat i
ons. Men f r
om mar gi
nali
sed communi ti
es ar e of ten
ster
eot ypedassexualpr edators.Thisi strueforAf ri
canAmer ican
meni nAmer i
caandf orMusl im andDal i
tmeni nI ndia.Thesemen
havel esseraccesst ot hecr i
minaljust i
cesy stem andar ealso
conv i
ctedmor ebecauseoft heprejudicet owardst hem.Gi vent his
powerst ructur
ethatv il
lai
nisesmenf rom mar ginallocations,the
fi
rstinstinctofthecommuni tyistopr otectthemenwhohav ebeen
systemat ical
lymarginali
sed,ev eniftheyar eaggressors.Theonus
ofpr otectingthemenf all
sont hecommuni ty
,andwomenoft he
communi tyhav et
obeart hebr untofit. 
Whenpeopl efr
om oppressorcommuni t
iessupportthesurviv
or s,
ther
eisalsoaconstantfearofthem appropr
iat
ingtheresi
stance.
Theirsuppor
tmayal socomef rom thei
rdesireofprotect
ingt he
survi
vorsf rom meni nmar ginali
sedlocat ionwhoar econsi deredt o
beincapabl eofpr otectingt heirownwomen.Att hesamet ime,t he
survi
vorsal sohav et heonusofpr otectingot herwomenf r om t heir
communi t
ywhomayal sobeabusedi ftheper petrat
ori snotcal l
ed
out.Thus,t he onus ofpr ot
ecting fel l
ow women as wel las
safeguardingt hereputat ionoft hemeni ncommuni t
ybecomest he
responsibi
lityoft hesur v i
vorsofabuse.  
Af amouscasebr i
nging
thi
sissuet olightwast hatofAni taHi l
l,anAf ri
canAmer icanwoman
whowascr it
icisedforcompl ai
ningagai nstamanbel ongi ngt ot he
Afri
canAmer i
cancommuni tybecausei twoul dhampert heAf r
ican
Amer i
cancause( ZarkosandDav i
s2018) .Eveni nIndia,wehav e
seent hatwhenaDal i
t,OBC,orAdi vasiwomancomesf or wardt o
share herexper i
ence ofhar assment ,she i s often asked by
member sofherowncommuni tytonott akethecompl aintf or ward
ortoseekpuni shmentf ort heperpet r
atororf acebackl ashwi thi
n
the communi ty( Hargr eaves 2018;  Firstpost 
2018). Under such
cir
cumst anceswher edot hequeer sofmar gi
nal l
ocati
onsbel ong?  
Glori
aAnzaldua( 1987),amest i
zafemini
st,wr
ot ethatcultureput
s
ther i
ghtsoft hecommuni t
yov erthoseoft heindividual.Whil
e
refer
ringt
omar gi
nalcommuni ti
esshewritest
hatcul t
urebecomes
necessaryfort hesurv i
valofthet r
ibeespecial
lywhent heyare
fi
ghtingoffi
ntenti
onalgenocide.
 
“Thequeerar ethemi rrorreflecti
ngthehet er
osexualt ri
be’
sf earof
beingdiff
erent,beingt heotherandt her
eforelesserandt heref
ore
sub-human,in-human, non-human. ” 
Formar gi
nalisedcommuni t
ieswhoar efight
ingof fotherkindsof
viol
ence,acknowl edgingt hequeer srenderstheirexi st
ingst r
uggles
mor ecomplex.Thus,t hequeer sdonotbel ongcompl etel
yev enin
thecommuni ti
esi ntowhi cht heyarebor n.Int hecont extoft he
#MeToo mov ement t oo, t he surviv
al of t he mar ginali
sed
communi ti
esi satst akeandt heyareconstantlyatt her eceiv
ing
endofsy stemi cv i
olence.I nt heprocessoft ryi
ngt omat chupt o
thehegemoni c,thequeerbegi nstobeseenasat hreatandhence,
needstobemadei nvisible.
 
Excl
usi
onswi
thi
nRedr
essalMechani
sms

Thel
awal sodepri
vescer
tai
ncat
egori
esofpeopl
efrom t
heirst
atus
ofl
egalsubject
s.Cer
tai
npeopl
ebecomeincomplet
ecit
izensinthe
eyeoft hel aw.
 Lawsl ikeArmedFor ces(SpecialPowers)Act,1958
str
ipt hebasi crightsofpeopl ebyofferi
ngcompl eteimpunit
ytothe
army ,thatcangetawaywi t
hanyl evelofvi
olence,incl
udi
ngsexual
vi
olence and mur der int he garb of mai ntai
ning order
.The
perspect ivesbyKashmi riwomenandwomenf rom theNor t
hEast
hi
ghlightt hechal lengesofcomi ngoutwithexper i
encesofsexual
harassmentandaski ngf orjust
icefrom t
heI ndianstatethathas
beencol onisi
ngt hem. 
Queerpeopl ear eal sor ender edi ncompl eteci t
izensbyt heIndian
state.I twasonl yi n2014t hatt r
ansgenderper sonsgotr ecogni t
ion
throught heNALSAj udgementandi n2018t hatSect ion377was
readdown.Ev enwhi letransgenderper sonsar ebei ngr ecognised
asI ndi anci ti
zens,ot herl awssuchast heSect i
on375andSect ion
354cont i
nuet obei nbi narygender s.TheTr ansgenderPer sons
(Protect ionofRi ghts)Bi l
lisy ettobepassed.Unt i
lSect i
on377was
notr eaddown,queersexual i
tywascr i
minal i
sed.Ther ewasno
possi bilit
yt oseekr edressalf orqueeri ndivi
dual sincaseofsexual
violence. Wi tht he Sect i
on 377 bei ng r ead down,t herei s
acknowl edgementt hatqueersexualact scanbebot hconsensual
aswel lasnon- consensual ,andnon- consensualsexualact sneedt o
bebr oughtundert hepur v i
ewofsexualhar assmentandr ape.Whi l
e
femi nistshav eresistedl awsf rom beingmadegender -
neut r
alsoas
to pr ot ectt he st r
ucturalmar ginali
sat i
on ofwomen,wi tht he
growi ng awar eness ofhar assmentofqueerand t r
ansgender
i
ndi vidual s,ithasbecomenecessar yt oident i
fyv ulnerablegroups
andbr ingt hem wi t
hint hepur vi
ewoft hesel aws.Asofnow,sexual
harassmentand r ape l aws ar e compl etely cis-heterosexuali n
natur e,wher ebyt hereisnor edressalmechani sm forqueerpeopl e.
Undersuchci rcumst ances, whenqueerpeopl ear edepr ivedofbot h
civi
lr ightsaswel lasr i
ght sf orpr ot
ectionagai nstsexualv iol
ence,
theyar er enderedi ncompl etecitizens. 
Wil
lwomenfrom margi
nal
i
sedcommuni ti
esandqueeri
ndi
vi
duals
beabl
etocomeoutwi ththei
rexper
iencesofviol
encewhenthey
ar
enotev
enrecogni
sedascompletecit
izens?
 
Queer
swi
thi
n#MeToo

Peopl
ef r
om the queer communi
ty ar
e alr
eady sti
gmati
sed,
ost
raci
sedandvul
ner
ablei
nsociet
y.Moreov
er,queerbodi
esand
thecommuni tyatl argear ehighlysexualised.Lesbianwomenhav e
beenseenast heobj ectoff antasyformenandgayr el
at i
onshi ps
are of ten reduced t ojustsexualr elat
ionships.Sexualv i
olence
agai nstqueeri ndi
v idualsandqueerbodi eshast obeunder stoodi n
thatcont extaswel l.Further
, whatisal soacauseofconcer nist he
cis-heterosexualnat ureoft he#MeToomov ement.Ev enasmor e
peopl ear etaki
ngcogni sanceofsexual harassmentasani ssueand
aref or
mi nggr oupst odi scusst hesei ssues,t hesef orumsal so
oftenhav ean" onlywomen"pol i
cy,thusexcl udi
ngt ransandgender
non- conformingi ndi vi
duals.Fori nstance,thecal lsforsuppor tt o
#MeTooi nMumbai ,Del hi
,Pune,ChennaiandAhmedabadshar ed
onsoci al mediawer et o“si
sters”andhadst r
ictl
ysaid“ nomen. ”[
3]

So,whocanbeasexualhar assmentv ictim?Thisi saquest i

onwe
willhavetokeepaski ngcontinuouslywhenwedi scusstheissueof
sexualharassment .Istheduepr ocessbei ngablet oprovi
dejusti
ce
toal l
?I st heduepr ocessbeingabl et or ecogniseev er
yoneas
wor t
hy ofj ust
ice? Whatki nd ofassaul t
,and by whom,get s
recognised?Thesear esomequest ionst hatthelegalmechani sms
andduepr ocessmaynotbeabl etoaddr essadequat el
y. 
Concl
usi
ons

The#MeToomov ementhasbr oughttheper vasivenessoft hei ssue

ofsexualhar assmenti nt othemai nstream.I thasal sohighlighted
thei nadequacyoft heduepr ocess.Theconv er
sat i
onst hatt he
mov ement has opened up hav e emphasi sed t he need f or
psy chosoci al 
suppor t mechani sms al ongsi de t he legal due
processes,whet hert hissuppor tisint er msofpl atfor
mswher e
peopl ecan speakoutwi t
houtbei ng bl amed,way st o healt he
trauma,orseekl egalsuppor tiftheysodesi r
e.Ther eis,perhaps,a
needt or eimaginejusticeandt heimpor tanceofl awwheni tcomes
to addr essing sexualhar assment .Equal it
y bef oret he law i s
i
nadequat e,becauseone’ ssocialandpol i
ticallocationdetermi nes
thedegr eeofaccesst ot helegalprocess.Thel awi snot  
enoughf or
j
ust icet o beachi eved.Ther ei sar equi r
ementt o exami neand
changet helanguagebywhi chweunder standsexualhar assment .
Unt i
l thathappens, justi
cei sadistantdr eam.