KOCHI: The more things change, the more they stay the same, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr once wrote. And the French author couldn’t have been more true. In an era of women breaking barriers, confronting challenges and redefining gender roles, increasing incidents of cyber bullying is evidence enough of the unchanged social psyche that insists women remain in the shadows.
The vilification campaign against former health minister K K Shailaja, the CPM candidate from Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency, has once again highlighted the challenges faced by women politicians in ‘progressive’ Kerala.
Alathur MP Ramya Haridas, Aritha Babu, who contested as a Congress candidate in the 2021 assembly election, Congress leaders Shanimol Osman, Bindu Krishna and Veena S Nair, and RMP leader K K Rema have all been victims of vilification campaigns on social media. Character assassination is the easiest way to damage the reputation of a woman politician, say activists. Though women from the Left front also face such abuse on social media, their parties rally behind them, providing the required mental backing.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha election, remarks made by former LDF convenor A Vijayaraghavan against Ramya, after she met Muslim League general secretary P K Kunhalikutty, triggered an outrage. The attack hurt Ramya, who said it was the biggest challenge to women from the backward sections trying to make it in politics.
Aritha was targeted by cyber goons during campaigning for the 2021 election. A dairy farmer, she had posted a photo of her milking a cow, which led to her becoming a target of trolls and disparaging comments.
In the run-up to the Thrikkakara byelection, Congress candidate Uma Thomas was victimised. Commenting on a widow entering politics, opponents said, “In the past, women used to jump into the funeral pyre of their husbands, now they jump into electoral politics.”
Even senior politicians insulted Vadakara MLA Rema, the widow of slain RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan, commenting “the death of husbands has been a blessing in disguise for some women”.
“We face character assassination whenever we express our opinion on social issues,” said Bindu. “A month ago, somebody uploaded a morphed image of my face on the body of Karuthamma, the character played by Sheela in the movie Chemmeen. Even well-known politicians create and share such content. They don’t realise the trauma it inflicts on family members and children of the victim.”
Shanimol said, “Most of our politicians remain silent when cyber goons attack women belonging to other political parties. Society should unite to isolate people who resort to such character assassination of women politicians.”
Women in politics should stand united against such attacks, said writer K R Meera. “It is disgusting that people think they can destroy the reputation of a woman by spreading canards and sexually explicit comments. Even senior leaders are sharing such comments. This proves the regressive outlook of our male politicians and mainstream political parties. It pains me as a writer and as a citizen,” she added.