In India, when actor Tanushree Dutta spoke her personal details around the ‘Me Too’ movement, it caused the media to go into a flurry of activity. The phrase ‘Me Too’ was originally used in 2006 when American social activist Tarana Burke wanted to highlight and promote the problems of sexually-abused women. #MeToo spread virally as a hashtag in 2017 when actor Alyssa Milano used it to bring attention to her sexual harassment story that happened at the age of 19.

The spread of the #MeToo movement through social media platforms witnessed the spilling of many stories against leading names in Entertainment, Media, Fashion, Education, Politics, Music, Sports, and other industries. These stories all unveiled the horrific details where women were subjected to sexual harassment with many opting to leave their career.

In India, the Me Too campaign grabbed eyeballs particularly in 2018 wherein leading and respected names were revealed in stories that made one cringe. However, the movement also led to the formation of a ‘Men Too’ movement by men’s activists who felt the need to protect men who were falsely dragged into controversies. While ‘Me Too’ were stories of women who were silenced against sexual assault, the ’Men Too’ movement has been a fight back for those tainted falsely by women.

The ‘Me Too’ and the ‘Men Too’ movements have witnessed many stories of consensual sex cases turned into rape victim claims, false dowry allegations, and much more.

Where is this getting us? Are these hashtags being misused as the allegations are growing exponentially? There have been questions raised about the authenticity of these movements causing doubt to cloud the true stories shared by people who have suffered sexual abuse.

Shaming and Insensitivity: Why it Needs to Stop

These movements were originally created to bring awareness. ’Me Too’ stories were about giving courage to the women to break their silence and bring an end to sexual harassment, particularly at the workplace. It has been about creating a safe space for women to speak about these traumatic incidents and let people know about the magnitude of this problem. The aim is to break the taboo around expressing the truth and help women gain strength to fight for their rights.

“Men and women both need to understand the importance of these movements and exercise responsibility in their actions.”

Over time, women and men have also misused the movement by sharing stories about their conflicts within relationships, false accusations, unrelated issues, and more which have no connection with the Me Too or Men Too movement. This has led to a dilution of the main context - where creating a safe space is important while empowering people in society.

On the other hand, women, in particular, have been shamed on social media leading to the silence of many others who may have experienced this trauma. Famous personalities have been subjected to humiliating questions by journalists at conferences aptly displaying that the ‘victim’ is continuously ‘victimized’ while the perpetrator runs free. The accusers have also been questioned about the genuineness of their ‘Me Too’ stories with the lack of evidence to the issue.