Can naming and shaming be encouraged under the garb of feminism?

A crowd-sourced list compiled and posted on Facebook by Indian origin student Raya Sarker, now studying in the University of California - claims to call out on sexual harassment mostly in Indian Universities by academics has raised a massive storm on social media. While some hailed Raya as the messiah for women silently suffering sexual harassment perpetrated by those in power, others called her out on the absence of context or explanation in the list. Feminists across the country stood divided on the list and called it a blatant act of naming and shaming, some even termed it a lynch list.

The list named around 70 academics from mostly reputed Indian Universities such as Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jadavpur University, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and others. While the list claims to aim at spreading awareness about sexual harassment in the academia and demands justice, what cannot be denied is the fact that no matter what the intention of producing the list could be, no investigation can proceed until concrete facts are presented. To get an understanding of how the list has helped so far, it should be noted that it definitely opened up discussion on the issue of abuse of power for sexual gratification, but nothing that could lead to serve justice to the victims - if any (strictly confined to those who anonymously claimed to have been at the receiving end).

Raya so far has not come out with any explanation which led her to compile and post the list on social networking site, she however questioned everyone who asked for details and context around the names which featured on the list. She even took a dig at the left brigade in one of her Facebook posts which read "Leftist feminist professors and their comrades gagging free speech and planning to file defamation suits against a student(s) for asking women and non men to be wary of sexual harassment. Wondering what their (signatories of the statement) response would have been if I compiled a similar list of alleged c***s within the Modi administration."

As a news platform Oneindia will not resort to passing opinions on the validity of the list, but will only stick to facts. To point out the outcome of producing such a list - it has only managed to garner opinions on whether the move to name the alleged accused without any verification produced on the public forum is right or wrong. So far as serving justice is concerned, there is nothing that can even be initiated unless the anonymous victims come out with their stories - even anonymously. Not a single first-hand testimony against a single accused has come to the forefront so far. It is thus safe to assume that it will be only wise to wait until more information is revealed before rejecting or blindly trusting the dreaded list.

Social media has a huge role to play in spreading awareness about any topic of relevance in today's era. However, the pitfalls of the easy tool that helps us reach out to a large audience are many. For example, the ones named in the list are noted academics and hence it is extremely easy to influence opinions about them, and when the topic is as crucial as sexual harassment, not many would want to wait for facts. Now that most of them have already been tainted as sexual predators, with a tarnished reputation, who will take responsibility if someday a thorough investigation reveals that the list lacked verification? Will then those supporting the list produce another list condemning the act of naming and shaming?

If social media reactions are to be observed, the much talked about list has done more bad than good. It has successfully managed to shatter feminism into many pieces and once again fell victim to the very idea of patriarchy which it aimed at fighting or demolishing. However, as much as the list should not be consumed on face value, it should also not be rejected, for it speaks about something as important as sexual harassment, and rather than harping on right or wrong, one should ask for more details, for the truth. Detailed investigation can only happen when the stories come to the forefront and not just names. And even one person is found guilty, he should be brought to task. And even if one person is found innocent, the one behind the compilation of the list must bear the brunt for character assassination.

The need of the hour calls for a thorough probe which will ensure the privacy of the victims and also the reputation of everyone wrongfully (if any) named in the list. Women calling out each other for endorsing any school of feminism will do the least to ensure justice and will only help to deviate from the main issue. The act of naming and shaming can only be supported on verification and not vilification. Hence, it is the responsibility of those that have embarked on this journey to publicly shame alleged sexual predators, to produce necessary details pertaining the matter and not let this drown as yet another social media trend - which will be the only result of blatant allegations and arrogance which led many to refuse answering questions or discussions when doubts were expressed.

OneIndia News