The article seeks to analyze multitudinous instances of the 2018 worldwide movement against sexual assault and harassment, popularly known as the “Me-too movement” and examines whether it depicts the features of liberalism. The author observed various strands of liberalism, such as classical liberalism, neoliberalism, liberal feminism, and democratic liberalism by analyzing the broader scope of the movement.
Liberalism And The #METOO Movement
Like how the French revolution influenced proponents of Italian unification to revolt against the monarchy, the Me-too movement that emerged in the USA spurred the campaign in Asia and Europe. This movement questioned the patriarchal power structure, sexual objectification of women and campaigned for body autonomy. The Me too movement has turned out to be a transcontinental movement spreading across the entire world, including Asia, Europe, Africa, and North and South America. This article seeks to analyze the Me-too movement in Asia and Europe.
The right to question forms the very basis of liberalism. Like how the French questioned the violation of individual freedom, women across the globe questioned the injustice meted out to them by the alpha males on multiple platforms. The Me too movement raised a series of striking questions. If a woman is employed, does that mean she is obliged to do whatever a male employer demands from her, even if it lies outside the purview of her work? Is it too much to ask for a safe working environment? The global movement was a strike against sexism and institutional patriarchy.
The liberalists call for women to move beyond their domestic sphere and participate in the decision-making processes in the public sphere. The women who participated in the movement were not only educated, but many of them also occupied positions of power and responsibility. These working women were harassed by their male superiors at the workplace.
Neo-liberalism places the onus of responsibility to seek justice on individuals, in this case, sexual assault victims. When neoliberal feminism recognizes the atrocities such as sexual harassment and gender inequality, it solely asks women to achieve gender equality by their efforts by sidelining the institutional or structural inequalities. In China and the UK, several professionals, including professors and parliamentarians, were either fired or voluntarily resigned in the wake of sexual assault allegations raised against them by the victims themselves.
Democratic liberalism respects the civil liberties of individuals. In this sense, the movement involved worldwide protests against sexism, patriarchy and the static nature of the judicial system. Classical liberalist such as F.A Hayek stressed that civil liberties were the basis of freedom and called for the need for an uncensored and free press. The Me-too movement was predominantly a digital movement where various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Weibo and digital media provided unrestricted space for millions of rape and sexual assault survivors to share their agonizing experiences with the world with no interference by the state machinery.
According to liberalists, human rights are inalienable rights (i.e.) these rights are ascribed by all individuals by virtue of being humans. Freedom of speech and expression is one of the significant characteristic features of liberalism. Victims of the Me-too movement used social media to share their sexual assault grievances. Twitter became the buzzing ground for numerous Metoo hashtags and viral content. Many a time, the victims might not have secured justice in courts. Still, this major e-movement helped provide these vulnerable populations with a space that gave them hope and reminded them that they were not alone on this rocky road to gender justice.
The very aspiration to act in the wake of the humiliation of one’s self-worth expressed through a culture of sexual violence is the core of human freedom and liberty. This is precisely what the #me too movement struggled to accomplish. In India, in the criminal defamation case involving a journalist, Priya Ramani and a former external affairs minister, MJ Akbar, the court declared that the right of reputation could not be protected at the cost of dignity. This is one of the first instances that a judicial forum put forth a woman’s dignity above all.
On the one hand, while support was pouring for victims from all sides of the planet, condemnatory comments were also no less in number. When one voices out his/her/their experiences or opinions, be it right/wrong/good/bad/just/unjust, they must be ready to receive opposed retaliation for the same. Tolerance goes hand in hand with freedom of speech and expression.
Liberal feminism argues that equality of law in treating men and women is the accurate means through which freedom can be achieved. Liberal feminists call for gender-inclusive laws that equally consider the needs and requirements of women as well. Thereby, liberal feminism aims to achieve gender equality through political and legal reform. The survivors faced severe public backlash, with many claiming that the victims came out with their allegations to gain fame and to vilify higher-ranking professionals to avenge their personal problems. Nonetheless, the movement was non-violent, and only legal means were used to secure justice.
In the wake of the Me-too movement in China, a country that lacks legislation on sexual harassment, it decided to introduce the civil code for sexual harassment, criminalizing any speech, words, images or bodily actions directed against a person’s wishes. Further, UK’s defense secretary was forced to resign in the light of sexual assault allegations raised against him by journalists, juniors and several others. Subsequently, the UK parliament released a code of conduct for its respective members. The Right to be treated with dignity very much comes under the purview of gender equality and is of utmost importance in any work environment.
In a democracy, it becomes evident that legal and political reforms to uphold women’s autonomy are significant in securing gender equality. However, the prolonged nature of legal procedures and practices makes it difficult to secure justice in an expeditious manner, indicating the explicit strains in using measures suggested by proponents of liberal feminism to secure justice. Moreover, the mere existence of gender-inclusive laws without any attitudinal change across various sections of the society makes the laws futile, reflected in various phases of the movement.
Conclusion
By and large, the movement is an epitome of women empowerment and liberation and proved that human rights is transnational and can make people go beyond their national identities and can provide a forum for people to unite and stand together in the face of injustice. Undoubtedly, not all women’s experiences were brought to the limelight, and not all women were able to secure justice through the course of the movement. However, what is significant to note is that the movement certainly created a sense of belongingness among all women, validating strongly that women were human beings who deserved to be treated right and be guaranteed a life of freedom, conveying the very spirit of liberalism. In this sense, the #Me too movement, when analyzed closely, is expressive of various strands of liberalism.
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