THE ME TOO MOVEMENT HAS MADE WORKPLACE SAFER FOR WOMEN AND DANGEROUS FOR MEN (FOR)

Opening:

After the explosion of this movement, a daughter in California told that a woman at her father’s workplace asked for help moving a box. When he said, “Yes, dear I will get that for you ” and the woman told him not to call her “dear” again. He was like, “I didn’t mean anything by that” He felt like he was being falsely accused for showing kindness and that’s where I see that me too movement has made workplace safer for women and dangerous for men.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The movement was started to bring a phenomenal change, to stop men of power from sexually assaulting the women below them, but unfortunately the movement has become unrecognisable,

Ladies and Gentlemen, hear me out

Instead of being a centre for survivors of sexual violence, the movement is being talked about as a vindictive plot against men. Victims are heard and then vilified and this statement has been said by the founder of me too Tarana Burke.

Point 1: The biggest drawback of this movement is that it lacks clear action points, there are no check-balances to this movement. Every woman is taking this movement in their own direction.  It seems every time a man does anything a woman considers "sexual"... it becomes a #MeToo situation. Unfortunately ALL #MeToo situations are treated the same - man loses everything he has worked so hard for.

Point 2: If I talk about workplace, no one can dare fire a woman or pull her up for shoddy work because it can be construed as harassment. It encourages slander without need of evidence (especially if it is after years). The worst is alienation at work place, less people will employ women, they will record every talk just in fear that it could achieve the potential of a me too situation, infact a survey by The Indian Express shows that  about 45 per cent were concerned that there could be false accusations while around 21 per cent, mostly women, felt the movement will not lead to any resolution of cases.

Point 3: As per report of Forbes, a growing number of men report being uncomfortable or afraid to work alone with a woman. Senior men are increasingly reluctant to mentor younger women or include them in opportunities like business travel or client dinners, Why because men have become well aware that their career and family reputation could be at stake if even a single innocent gesture is misinterpreted. It can destroy a man’s life with one allegation without having proof.

I am not completely against this movement, I just want to say that this movement needs a call for action, it’s a call for men and women to think about their behaviour and to change. The best outcome is that we can achieve is a clarification of what is culturally legitimate to pursue and that we define how we should behave. A behavioural focus training is need of hour in workplaces.