It is integrity v/s wealth, influence...

rape, we should stand by what we fought for. We have spoken, time and again, about how rape is not about lust or sex, but about power, privilege and entitlement. Thus this new law should be applicable to everybody -- the wealthy, the powerful, and the well connected -- and not just to faceless strangers," she said. As seen by some of the responses to this case, instances of familial and custodial rape present doughty challenges to even the most adamantine feminists, she added. Refuting allegations that she was acting on someone's behest, she said, "Suggestions that I am acting on someone else's behest are only the latest depressing indications that sections of our public discourse are unwilling to acknowledge that women are capable of taking decisions about themselves for themselves. "In this past week, television commentators who should know better, have questioned my motivations and my actions during and after Mr. Tejpal molested me. ''Some have questioned the time it took for me to file my complaint, more inquisitive commentators have questioned the use of the word 'sexual molestation' versus words like 'rape'," she said. The journalist added that by choosing this path, she has opened herself to "personal and slanderous attack" and this will not be an easy battle. "Unlike Mr Tejpal, I am not a person of immense means. I have been raised single-handedly by my mother's single income. My father's health has been very fragile for many years now. By filing my complaint, I have lost not just a job that I loved, but much-needed financial security and the independence of my salary.'' Remembering her days as a journalist reporting stories of rape survivors, she said, "In my life, and my writings, I have always urged women to speak out and break the collusive silence that surrounds sexual crime. This crisis has only confirmed the myriad difficulties faced by survivors. "First, our utterances are questioned, then our motivations, and finally our strength is turned against us... "Had I chosen silence in this instance, I would not have been able to face either myself or the feminist movement that is forged and renewed afresh by generations of strong women," she said. "Finally, an array of men of privilege have expressed sorrow that Tehelka, the institution, has suffered in this crisis. I remind them this crisis was caused by the abusive violence of the magazine's Editor-inChief, and not by an employee who chose to speak out," she concludes.