Mee Too Movement: Origin, Purpose, Impacts & More | UPSC Notes

The Mee Too movement started by Tarana Burke emerged in 2017 as an awareness campaign addressing the widespread problem of sexual harassment and abuse of women in the workplace. Its prominence rose in response to revelations of sexual misconduct by the American film producer Harvey Weinstein, as reported in the news. The Mee Too movement in India unveiled numerous accusations of sexual harassment and assault, shedding light on the issue and increasing awareness across the country. Despite this, the process of holding perpetrators accountable has been sluggish, as many cases remain entangled in legal disputes, impeding progress.

This topic Mee Too Movement UPSC is relevant for UPSC Mains because it has lately been in the news as a result of several sexual allegations made against numerous personalities by females from all spheres of society.

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What is the Mee Too Movement?

The Mee Too movement is a global movement against sexual harassment and assault in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Mee Too" was initially used in this context on social media in 2006, on Myspace, by sexual assault survivor and activist Tarana Burke. The hashtag #Mee Too was used starting in 2017 as a way to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem.

Origin of the Mee Too Movement

An American activist named Tarana Burke, born in the Bronx on September 12, 1973, is the founder of the “Mee Too” movement. Burke started using Mee Too in 2006 to assist other women going through the same things in asserting their own rights. The #Mee TooMovement, which started in the West in 2017, has gained traction in practically all of the world’s main regions.

• Mee Too is a worldwide movement that seeks to end sexual harassment and assault. Women from all over the world shared their personal experiences as part of this movement, shedding attention to the sexual violence that is all too common in our society.
• After Harvey Weinstein, a prominent American film producer, was accused of sexual misconduct in October 2017, the #Mee Too campaign gained popularity.
• The Popular hashtag #Mee Too tries to draw attention to how prevalent sexual assault is in today’s society.
• The campaign has brought together different cases of forced penetrative sex, unwanted groping, eve-teasing, and inappropriate texts from senior co-workers.
• The movement began as a women’s movement, but as it gained momentum, it began to encompass gay and cis-male experiences.

Purpose of the Mee Too Movement

The #Mee Too movement aims to empower survivors of sexual assault and harassment. It creates a safe space for them to share their experiences and break the silence surrounding these issues. It seeks to expose the pervasiveness of sexual violence and challenge the power dynamics that enable it to persist. By amplifying the voices of survivors, the movement aims to foster a cultural shift that prioritizes consent, respect, and accountability.

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Positive Impact of the Mee Too Movement

The Mee Too movement had many positive impacts on society. The following are the positive side of this movement-

• Without the need to be precise, it gave people a platform to communicate how they had been sexually abused in many forms. Many Victims received more attention and assistance than ever before because of the space they had to publicly denounce the sexual harassers and abusers.
• As a step towards a more fair and equitable society, it is important to recognize when several women share their stories after being previously reluctant to discuss sexual assault.
• The advocate of the movement claims that it is more concerned with revealing societal fault lines than it is with seeking judicial redress.
• With the help of this movement, the topic of sexual assault was moved from one of law to one of cultural responsibility.
• According to the movement’s proponents, it was successful in drawing attention to male offenses that had become accepted by society over time.
• It has called into question practices like groping women against their will.
• Social media supporters have turned the individual anguish of sexual assault into a justifiable communal range.
• The campaign has been effective in getting urban communities to re-evaluate the values that have led to the acceptance of sexual harassment of women in the workplace. Women’s inadequacies and vulnerabilities are skillfully utilized for sexual gain.
• The movement has compelled authorities throughout the world to review workplace sexual assault policies and impose harsh fines on organizations that fail to comply.
• The patriarchal conventions that made it simple for women to be victims have been challenged by the movement.
• It is made clear by the movement that patriarchal ideas plague even economically successful and disadvantaged women. Even in the global business community, patriarchy is accepted, absorbed, and internalized.
• By emphasizing how sexual harassment affects the organization’s ability to function, the movement has had an impact on the global market economy. When women do join the workforce but experience sexual harassment, their stress levels rise and their productivity declines. Some may be forced to quit their jobs completely.
• Through social media, one of the most effective modern means of disseminating ideas and thinking, the movement prepares the ground for additional women-centric movements.
• The global community has united behind the campaign. The ladies of the world are included in a bigger group of people who share their complaints and experience the same form of discrimination.
• The movement is a protest against the mentalities that uphold a silence-enforcing culture. It would be a huge step towards a more gender-neutral society if women used their voices to make sexual predators stop and think.
• Last but not least, the movement has drawn attention to the fact that sexual assault in the workplace is incompatible with modern society’s ethics and the value of democracy.

Learn more about the Elimination of violence against Women!

Negative Impacts of the Mee Too Movement

Nevertheless, the #Mee Too campaign’s success has brought about a number of drawbacks in addition to these advantages. These drawbacks, regrettably, are not minor and have become major challenges to combat. On the contrary, they could even erase all the good that the #Mee Too campaign has accomplished.

• One of these concerns entails urging people and organizations to place more emphasis on the problem’s resolution than on its prevention and prohibition.
• Rather than consistently working to create a culture that actively promotes zero tolerance for sexual harassment, we could be waiting for someone to type “Mee Too” instead.
• Instead of making genuine efforts or collaborating to fully address the issue, “Mee Too” has only created a culture of victims and a growing number of people expressing compassion or anger.
• The trend raises the possibility that individuals would choose to publicly humiliate someone without first looking into the appropriate channels for redress that might provide them with justice.
• By taking this path, social media might potentially develop into a rival judicial system that has the power to impose its own laws.
• Another obvious problem with the movement is that many people who are publicly shamed on social media may not think twice to retaliate in rage and further harm their accusers, especially those who lack protection through appropriate channels.
• The #Mee Too movement appears to be snobbish and top-down. Many contend that organizing at the local level may result in significant change. The best way to achieve gender equality is to break down biases in a community and instill behavioral changes in each individual.
• Some of the movement’s detractors claim that it has anarchist roots. It makes several claims about sexual attacks and their victims without having solid supporting evidence.
  • Additionally, neither the manner of presentation nor the media used to tell the cascade of stories serve as a tool for recourse. Instead, it is a conscious effort to damage the reputation of the accusers, including occasionally fraudulent accusers.
• The movement’s ultimate goal is to engender public indignation and mayhem, which diverts attention from genuine concerns and ultimately causes confusion and drama.
• The movement is focused on cities and recognizes the complaints of already economically independent women. The voices of women from marginalized groups are not included in the movement’s discourse.
• Any new campaign should be built on the pain suffered by marginalized women and their voices, not as an afterthought.
• The campaign must focus on sexual assault in the unregulated industry, where abuse and labor law breaches are common.
• The campaign needs to develop tools and assistance for women who have extremely limited access to the court system.
• Trans-women, homosexual men and women, and non-binary people should all have a say in it. Instead, the movement is concentrating on high-profile cases and celebrities in order to generate more TRPs and public rumors.
• Many people believe the trend to be emerging nations’ mimicry of the West. The movement’s concerns are less relevant for developing nations like India, where women face far more severe problems than Mee Too has been able to address since those issues are more pertinent to Western civilizations.
• In developing nations like India, fundamental problems affecting women include marital violence, child abuse, honor murders, lack of access to education, financial reliance, social shame, and religious repression.
• While creating an atmosphere free of harassment is necessary for women to become more empowered, it is crucial to help them overcome the aforementioned obstacles that now fall beyond the scope of the Mee Too movement.

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Mee Too Movement in India

The global #Mee Too movement started to take shape in late 2018 and has continued to do so in all spheres of Indian culture, including the media, the government, and the Bollywood film industry. The Mee Too movement India is perceived as either a separate development motivated by the global effort to abolish sexual harassment of working-class women or as a spinoff of the “Mee Too” social movement in the United States. When actress Tanushree Dutta accused actor Nana Patekar of sexual harassment in October 2018, the Mee Too movement in Bollywood, based in Mumbai, gained a significant pace. Mee Too first gained notoriety in India as the international movement gained traction.

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Steps Taken by the Indian Government in Support of Mee Too

In response to the #Mee Too campaign, the Center has organized a Group of Ministers to provide recommendations for actions to enhance the institutional and legislative framework and to effectively enforce the legislation against sexual harassment at work.

The Narendra Modi administration has proposed the creation of a four-member committee made up of retired judges to hear cases in public after taking note of the #Mee Too movement, which has generated quite a stir in Bollywood, the Indian media sector, and politics. The Committee may suggest that Internal Committee members have the same protection from prosecution as “public officials” as defined by Section 21 of the IPC. The insider claimed that this would prevent the members from becoming involved in legal disputes.

It’s expected that a government subcommittee established in the aftermath of the #Mee Too movement to provide recommendations on how to stop sexual harassment at work would suggest eliminating the three-month window set out by law for victims to register complaints.

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Mee Too Bill in United States Congress

The #Mee Too movement began in 2006 and gained widespread attention in 2017. It has prompted legislative action in the United States Congress to address sexual harassment in the workplace. 

• One of the most significant pieces of legislation to emerge from the #Mee Too movement is the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act. This bill seeks to eliminate the use of forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts. 
• Speak Out Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to protect employees from retaliation for reporting sexual harassment. 
• The Restoring Education and Protecting Students in Trauma-Informed Environments (RESPECT) Act is a comprehensive bill. It addresses sexual misconduct in schools and colleges.

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Way Forward

The following actions can be taken:

• The need for behavioral changes is much more urgent than the need for institutional solutions to become quicker, better, and more resilient.
• The inclusion of a gender curriculum in schools and universities.
• The creation of anti-sexual harassment committees and the implementation of regular nationwide consent education campaigns.
• The codification of policies to deal with sexual harassment events.
• Women’s empowerment requires a holistic approach in order to be powerful, pervasive, and effective. This means working on it at all levels and in all areas.
• Women’s grassroots activists, middle-level activists, government officials, journalists, legislators, academics, artists, entrepreneurs, etc., must effectively network with one another.
• Women need an education that will enable them to read, comprehend, and control the outside world as well as to manage their own future.
• The struggle for women’s empowerment is ongoing, and it cannot be won without the support of society as a whole.

Learn more about Women in the Workplace!

Conclusion

A committee of ministers was formed in response to the #Mee Too movement to identify practical steps for enforcing the legislation against sexual harassment and assault at work and for bolstering the institutional legal framework. Now, the Mee Too movement forced so many women to tell about their pain, and many more women have since shared their own stories. Speaking about sexual harassment has become much more common thanks to this campaign.

Learn more about the National Commission for Women!

Key Takeaways for UPSC Aspirants Formation: Established in 1923 by Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das within the Indian National Congress. Purpose: To contest the elections to the Central Legislative Assembly and provincial legislative councils under the Government of India Act, 1919, and obstruct colonial governance from within. Ideology: Advocated self-rule (Swaraj) and aimed to enter legislative councils to fight for Indian interests and expose inefficiencies in the British administration. Success: Achieved significant success in the 1923 elections, winning numerous seats; their entry into councils was part of a strategy to gain political leverage. Contribution: Played a critical role in highlighting issues like the salt tax, civil rights, and non-cooperation from within the legislative framework. Challenges: Faced internal conflicts and external opposition from both the British government and elements within the Indian National Congress who were in favor of total boycotts. Merger with INC: The party was eventually dissolved and merged back into the Indian National Congress by 1925, but their efforts paved the way for subsequent legislative interventions. Legacy: Their strategies influenced future political movements and the overall structure of the struggle for Indian independence, highlighting the effectiveness of legislative activism.

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