Tehelka
on Tehelka : Media and Sex sells
The editor-in-chief of India's leading investigative
magazine is being probed over claims that he sexually assaulted a woman
colleague. The
case came to light after the victim complained in an email to a superior that
Tarun Tejpal, founder of the award-winning weekly, Tehelka, assaulted her twice
in a hotel elevator during a conference in the resort state of Goa this month.
Tarun Tejpal, who edits the weekly Tehelka, said he was
"recusing" himself from his job for the next six months to
"atone" for an "unfortunate incident" that involved a
female colleague.
The alleged victim's unidentified confidante told the NDTV
news channel that the woman had been subjected to "an act of grave sexual
misconduct" and that she was "completely shattered and emotionally
scarred".
The government of Goa state, where the alleged incident
happened in early November, has now ordered a "preliminary inquiry"
into the allegations, reports say.
Papers are urging all organizations, including media houses,
to set up bodies in compliance with government guidelines to ensure women's
right to work in an environment "free of sexual harassment".
"Several disturbing cases of alleged sexual harassment
at the workplace have been aired recently, all of which involve senior men in
positions of power making advances on vulnerable young women," says The Times of India .
The paper further adds that "sexual harassment gives
rise to a workplace that is hostile to women. It amounts to sexual discrimination
that is punishable by law. Only institutional checks can address such power
imbalances".
The Judiciary, the legislative, the media – the Indian woman
is not safe anywhere. Forget the workplace; women bear the most dastardly
abuses with a smile on their face within the “safe” confines of their homes.
But that is beside the point. The astute arrogance brandished by the man in
question, with no sign of the remotest repentance, has sent shivers down the
spine of people across the country. As a fan of this journalist, and as a
former employee of this organization, it clearly makes me ashamed as a human
being.
The pompous letter of atonement, the self-proclaimed recusal
and the shoddy defence on part of the organizational head does not inspire
confidence in people who would’ve otherwise wanted this episode to pass off as
a horrific nightmare. The same magazine that has time and again given voice to
the tortured women, taught them to raise their voice against Khap panchayats
and moral policing was found to be lacking in action; even worse, brushing the
entire narrative under carpet.
Even now, there were people – self-proclaimed women’s rights
activists, who care two hoots about state-sponsored surveillance on private
citizens, but are overtly eager to publicize their concern for the victim in
Tehelka. Then there were those who took voyeuristic pleasure in sharing
intimate details of the episode on social media. Media houses were quick to
post columns and opinion pieces on sexual harassment at workplace and assume
the high moral ground. Some idiots proclaimed their feminism by abusing the
daughter of the perpetrator, forcing her to delete her Twitter profile.
Somewhere, the victim, the sufferer lost her voice.
When glass houses lie shattered, the ensuing gush of blood
is often attended to. Nobody spares a thought for the injured vein.
Reena Mukherjee , a senior journo who had an experience of
decade in this field till she took a sabbatical after having a daughter.
Resuming her career after 5 years , she got a job as a “ Senior Journalist” in
Statesman in Kolkata. Here she had to undergo a rigorous sexual harassment by
her senior. When she complaint about this matter to the higher authority in the
media house rather she was advised to talk to her boss about the matter but
nobody paid heed to her grievance. When she tried to minimize contact with her
boss , she was terminated from her job for incompetence in October 2002. She
filed a complaint in the labor court for wrongful termination. Finally, in Feb
2013, she was awarded judgment in her favor after a long tedious battles and
odds of 9 years.
But what is rare are the women (or men) who actually report
the harassment and file official complaints. And when those brave women
actually do that, it is rarely acknowledged publicly.
Women who work in the media are generally intelligent,
fairly confident and have progressive feminist views on how women should be
treated. As a general rule, so do their male counterparts.
Then why is sexual harassment and the culture of sexism
still rife in our industry?
Most women, including those who allowed me to quote their
experiences, will not discuss this topic. It is a taboo subject because there
is a fear of reprisal. Despite most media houses having policies on sexual
abuse or any kind of harassment, most women are afraid to stick their necks out
in the institutions in which they work.
“It is just not worth it,” said one. “I love my job and
don’t want to jeopardize it. I may hate that this happened to me but I deal
with it. Besides, what happens if I do complain?” More than anything, women in
this industry don’t want to be seen as weak or victims because it would affect
their work and how they are perceived in the newsrooms.
India’s new law meant to prevent and redress incidents of
sexual harassment of women in the workplace isn’t likely to do much of either,
say women’s rights activists. The Sexual
Harassment at Work Place ( Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal ) Bill has
been passed in parliament last February, 2013 by both the houses , this law
comes at a time when Indian authorities have been facing increasing public
anger over incidents of rape across the country, particularly after the death
of a 23-year-old student who had been gang raped in Delhi in December.
While India already has laws against rape and sexual
molestation, the recently passed law is the country’s first dedicated to sexual
harassment at work. It defines such harassment broadly as unwelcome physical
contact and making “sexually colored” remarks and includes any behavior that
interferes with a woman’s work, creates an intimidating, offensive or hostile
work environment for her.
As more and more women join the workforce in India, sexual
harassment at work has become a growing problem. A 2010 survey of 600 female
employees in India’s information technology and outsourcing industry found that
88% of them had faced some form of sexual harassment at work. In most cases,
the perpetrator was a superior at work, according to a survey conducted by the
Centre for Transforming India, a Delhi-based non-governmental organization.
The new law is meant to prevent such harassment and provide
an avenue for women to have their complaints resolved, but activists say it falls
short on several fronts.
It is badly drafted. What they gave is mediocrity. The law
requires that all companies and employers who have more than 10 employees,
constitute an “Internal Complaints Committee” to which an aggrieved woman can
take her complaint. This committee, which must be headed by a senior female
employee, is supposed to try initially to get the complainant and accused to
reach a settlement and only launch an investigation in the case if mediation
fails.
If harassment is proved, the law leaves it up to the
internal committee to decide a monetary fine to be paid by the perpetrator,
depending on their “the income and financial status”. But more chances of
mishandling it is there.
Sexual harassment at the workplace is a universal problem.
Even though the occurrence of sexual harassment at the workplace is widespread
in India and elsewhere, this is the first time it has been recognized as an
infringement of the fundamental rights of a woman, under Article 19(1)(g) of
the Constitution of India "to practice any profession or to carry out any
occupation, trade or business".
Of late, the problem of sexual harassment at the workplace
has assumed serious proportions, with a meteoric rise in the number of cases.
Surprisingly, however, in most cases women do not report the matter to the
concerned authorities.
In India, Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Indian Constitution
provide safeguards against all forms of discrimination. In recent times, the
Supreme Court has given two landmark judgments -- Vishakha vs State of
Rajasthan, 1997, and Apparel Export Promotion Council vs A K Chopra, 1999 -- in
which it laid down certain guidelines and measures to ensure the prevention of
such incidents. Despite these developments, the problem of sexual harassment is
assuming alarming proportions and there is a pressing need for domestic laws on
the issue.
India is rapidly advancing in its developmental goals and
more and more women are joining the workforce. It is the duty of the state to
provide for the wellbeing and respect of its citizens to prevent frustration,
low self-esteem, insecurity and emotional disturbance, which, in turn, could
affect business efficacy, leading to loss of production and loss of reputation
for the organisation or the employer. In fact, the recognition of the right to
protection against sexual harassment is an intrinsic component of the
protection of women's human rights. It is also a step towards providing women
independence, equality of opportunity and the right to work with dignity.
In the last 50 years, various international human rights
organisations have been focusing on promoting and protecting women's rights.
The United Nations has acknowledged that women's rights are synonymous with
human rights. The same was reiterated in the Beijing Declaration.
Most international women's human rights movements have
raised their voice against abuse and violence perpetrated against women in
general. In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Areas where
discrimination was found to be rampant include political rights, marriage,
family and employment. The convention emphasised that discrimination and
attacks on a woman's dignity violated the principle of equality of rights.
The ground reality is, that, the media in India needs to
wake up and look inwards. It needs to see the misogynistic attitude that’s all
prevailing.
The fact is that we might fight for the rights of the
underdogs and do exposes on corruption etc but not many of us have the guts to
speak out against our own fraternity. I mean it took me five years to even
write about my experience openly, though I have discussed it with my peers.
What we also need is for the women journalists to stay
united to help one another. To be able to stand up for one another and to be
empowered enough so that issues are not pushed under the carpet under the garb
of ‘internal matter’. In my case it was the NWMI which helped me fight back and
supported me.
Ultimately we must have the ability to call spade a
spade and a zero tolerance policy within media houses and organizations for
this kind of behavior. Believe me, Tarun Tejpal’s actions are not an
exclusive phenomenon. He just ended up being the face of a deeper malice
plaguing the Indian media.
Time the Indian media treats this as a much needed wake up
call and put in place measures to ensure such things don’t repeat. At the least
provide ways for the victim to feel safe enough to complaint and give hope and
support to them.
Now a new story will start, it will be no use. Although Tejpal
accepted but the law will do actions accordingly. Chances are that the victim
will be hostile later on and the things will be alright. It is a time taking
business of medias. it is true that under the power this is now very common
things. all round it is happening. Some are suffering and none are opposing. It
is very common culture. All are against the act are also enjoying in somewhere
in on its way and are silent. It is the cheapest way to achieve goal.
Siddhartha
Shankar Mishra,
Sambalpur,
Odisha
