New Delhi, Oct 12: The Women and Child Development Ministry plans to set up a panel of legal experts to look into allegations of sexual harassment that have surfaced in the #MeToo campaign, Minister Maneka Gandhi said on Friday. She asserted that she believed in the “pain and trauma” of every complainant.
More women should come out and address the issue of sexual harassment and narrate their experiences, she said.
“I believe in all of them. I believe in the pain and trauma behind every single complainant,” she told news agency in an interview.
Ms. Gandhi did not comment on the allegations of sexual harassment against her colleague M.J. Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs, who has been accused by several former colleagues of sexual harassment when he served as editor at various media organisations.
Film director Sajid Khan and actor Alok Nath are among those accused of sexual misconduct and more.
“I am proposing to set up a committee with senior judicial and legal persons as members to look into all issues emanating from the #MeToo campaign,” Ms. Gandhi said.
The committee will look into the legal and institutional framework in place for handling complaints of sexual harassment, including some of the complaints if required, and advise the ministry on how to strengthen these, she said.
‘Elephants in the rooms for the last 25 years’
“It takes a lot for women to come out like this. These cases have been elephants in the rooms for the last 25 years. The question here is how can they prove these after all these years... they have faced verbal assault, they have been touched, pinched, their clothes have been pulled...
“The first thing to do is naming and shaming these monsters. Naming and shaming will go a long way in lessening the pain these women have been carrying,” she said.
The next step, she said, was to set up a committee that could listen to the women.
Urging women to come out with their stories, Ms. Gandhi said men who sexually harassed them depend on them to be shamed into keeping quiet.
She said her Ministry had created a woman-friendly environment in which they could complain to her directly. Even anonymous complaints would be addressed.
Ms. Gandhi said women could complain through the She Box (www.shebox.nic.in), which provides a single window access to every woman, irrespective of her work status to register complaints related to sexual harassment. Complaints could also be lodged at [email protected], she said. All the cases would be closely monitored by the Ministry.
“Regarding taking action against those that are in office, I am really hopeful that the system will react because I believe that these complaints are true,” she said.
According to the Minister, protecting women had been the watchword of the present government with the ''Beti Bachao Beti Padhao'' campaign one of its flagship schemes.
“The Prime Minister has always given top priority to the rights of women. The first programme that he launched was Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. We don’t save our daughters to allow big shots to insult them later in life. I will do what I can do to help them,” she said, adding that women should raise their voices.
“They should speak out and in one jolt finish off this matter altogether so that men are frightened from ever sexually assaulting or making women uncomfortable.”
India’s #MeToo movement, which started with actor Tanushree Dutta alleging that actor Nana Patekar harassed her during a film shoot in 2008, has escalated sharply with increasing number of women coming forward with their complaints.
Demands for action against Mr. Akbar have also been rising.
While most BJP leaders and ministers have refrained from commenting, on Thursday, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said Mr. Akbar himself would be better positioned to speak on the issue.
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