You don’t need to take sides or criticise: Kalki

It is no one else’s business to comment on cases [of sexual harassment]. [Only] people who are working on the specific cases and know the details should be talking about it publicly.

KALKI KOECHLIN, ACTOR

Alongside the #MeToo movement gaining momentum in India, there have been victim-blaming and shaming and Twitter trials, too. Actor Kalki Koechlin feels reserving their opinion when one doesn’t know details of specific cases, is important to support the movement.

“I think everybody can be part of this movement and not feel that you need to criticise or take sides on cases that we really don’t know the details of,” Kalki says. And when it comes to victim shaming and Twitter trials, Kalki adds that the right thing to do is to abstain from putting out one’s opinion unless they are directly involved in a case, or are a concerned lawyer or investigating agency.

“It is no one else’s business to comment on these cases, as we don’t know the details of each and every case,” Kalki says, adding that knowing the degree of harassment is important, too. “Rape requires a different punishment from [that for] somebody who has been harassed sexually or somebody who was abused by email or text. [Only] people who are working on the specific cases and know the details should be talking about it publicly,” she explains.

The actor adds that the #MeToo movement has shown that sexual harassment transcends boundaries.

“Not just women, but men, too, have been subjected to abuse, and with so many cases coming out, it shows that sexual harassment occurs across sectors. It’s a problem of a patriarchal society,” she says.