‘NOBODY WANTS TO ADDRESS THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM’

Afew months ago, much before the Harvey Weinstein issue blew up and blew a few very powerful men apart, I was talking to a very worried senior counsel who told me bluntly his law firm had taken a unanimous decision to stop hiring female interns. He was also thinking of firing a few female full-timers from his prestigious office, because, as he put it, “The risk is simply not worth it!” I asked, “What risk?” And he surprised me by being totally upfront. “I want to focus my energies on representing my clients to the best of my abilities. I don’t want to be stressed out thinking about some girl who imagines I am making a pass at her. I tell you, today’s women are like sharks! They wait for an opportunity and go for your jugular. From a harmless office flirtation, they concoct a rape narrative! And we get screwed — without actually screwing them!” Crude. But blunt and to the point. He is not alone. Many employers are taking this route because it is easier. Nobody wants to address the elephant in the room, which is that women have had to put up with sexual harassment in the workplace for decades. Shut up and put up. They have done so out of fear. Fear of losing their jobs, their livelihoods, their dignity. Those who have gutsily called out their tormentors have found themselves isolated and ostracised — even by other women. Men in power have told some of these women that they are entirely dispensable. “One female ass is as good as the other. Do you really think we care or notice?” Harsh words. But they accurately describe the widespread contempt and loathing women endure, while trying to make a life for themselves. A man does not have to be as loathsome as Weinstein. He can exert an equal amount of coercion. That’s where I have a few issues with the global #metoo campaign. It’s one thing to publicly admit you have suffered exploitation, indignity and worse. It is another to expect change. Of course, change will come! I have no doubt about that. It is the interim that’s going to cost women a great deal. Every major transition encounters roadblocks that appear insurmountable. It is only when men start losing their jobs and suffering financial loss that attitudes will realign. In India, this will take longer still. A man who gets publicly stripped becomes a highly dangerous foe. He can go to any extreme to fix the victim. Despite this grim and highly pessimistic scenario, now that the genie is out of the bottle, there is no stopping the juggernaut. If one generation of women is forced to pay the price for their outspokenness, so be it. In the longer run, it will lead to a far more transparent system of working as equals, without having to constantly watch where those eyes and hands and words are travelling.