CHENNAI: It was a year of reckoning for corporate India. Women working across domains came together — mostly on social media — to shine a light on the normalisation of sexual harassment at workplaces across the country. In 2018, the second wave of the #MeToo movement in India became mainstream, sparking conversations on a topic rarely broached till now. However, #MeToo’s impact was largely confined to the media and entertainment industry, with most of the women feeling empowered to speak up hailing from urban, upper or upper-middle class sections of society.
Despite some efforts, the movement has yet to percolate down to women working in semi-skilled or blue collar jobs, leaving the most vulnerable women the least represented. Consider the case of Mathi (name changed), a garment factory worker near Chengalpattu, who filed a sexual harassment complaint against her production manager this year. After experiencing repeated unwelcome advances and even physical abuse from the man, she sought help from the garment workers’ union. The union filed a complaint with the Chengalpattu Police, the Kancheepuram Collectorate and sent a letter to the company.
“After the company learnt of the police complaint, they sent a female Human Resource (HR) person to my home to convince my family that I shouldn’t go to the police,” Mathi said. “The HR said advocates will ask about where the manager touched or pinched me, when he kissed me or molested me. She asked ifI wanted to answer these questions in public... She warned me that the company would make sure that I don’t get a job in any other garment factory,” she said.
When Mathi did not relent, the company sent representatives to meet the village head, who pressured her family to back out. She has since quit her job and decided to take legal action. Word has spread in the village that she accused a superior of sexual harassment and now she fears she may not get another job.
Despite a world of privilege separating them, Mathi’s experience actually has parallels with that of some of the women who have spoken up on social media. For instance, singer Chinmayi, who accused popular lyricist of Vairamuthu of sexual harassment, has talked of work opportunities drying up for her. Still, Chinmayi has found waves of support online, even among a handful in her mostly-silent industry. The high-profile nature of #MeToo has also forced some prominent companies to begin investigations and even take action against offenders. The famed Music Academy, for example, has barred a set of artists accused of sexual harassment.
“Women working in industries are disgusted by the harassment they face, but speaking against it means losing their bread and butter and bearing the brunt of being shamed,” said V Dhanalakshmi, a senior member of the garment workers’ union. As women in low-paying jobs are often temporary workers, it is easy for companies to terminate those who raise complaints citing unreasonable causes.
A study by the NGO Sisters for Change in 2016, conducted in several parts of India including TN, stated that two-thirds of factory workers had been exposed to harassment — verbal, physical or sexual — at work. Data supports her experience and shows that participation in the workforce for women comes with the threat of harassment at the workplace. The Institute for Applied Manpower Research in 2013 listed harassment as a major ‘challenge’ that leads to women ‘withdrawing from the workforce’.
The impact of this can be seen in the workforce participation rate of women. In 2011, the workforce participation rate at the all-India level was 25.51 per cent for females and 53.26 per cent for males. In Tamil Nadu, 31.8 per cent of the workforce is female. Sexual harassment therefore, increases inequality between classes, castes, and genders.
What then is the way forward for women in these positions? In Mathi’s case, it was the garment workers’ union that provided her with support to take up her case. R Geetha, an activist who has worked for welfare of unorganised sector workers for decades, sees that as a significant factor. The accountability that comes with the backing of the support system, is the most important take-away from MeToo, she said. For women in low-paying jobs, who may not be able to easily break linguistic and technological barriers among others, access to unions may help them rise above a few at least, she argued.
“Ten years ago, few female conservancy workers who worked for Chennai Corporation complained of harassment from a supervisor. Once, I helped them form a strong union of women workers, more women started speaking up. This eventually led to the formation of the Internal Complaints Committee in the Corporation,” said Geetha.
Similarly, once a strong union was formed among construction workers in the State, there was a natural fear of accountability that led to a reduction in harassment, she added. “Unionisation is a tremendous deterrent to sexual harassment,” she said. Could 2019 perhaps see a third, more inclusive, wave of #MeToo then?