The Legal and Social Cost of the #metoo Accusations

Semra Islam (21090067)
Hammad Hussain Shah (21090040)

Introduction

In 2019, Muhammad Afzal, a lecturer at MAO College, was accused of harassment by students. Thereafter, an inquiry committee probed into the matter and determined the allegations to be unfounded. Failure of the university in issuing him a letter of exoneration coupled with the fallout in his personal life after the accusation led Afzal to commit suicide.[1] On 5th May 2020, a 17-year-old boy from India took his own life after allegations of sexual harassment surfaced on social media.[2] Both these incidents sparked a debate: was the cost of the movement too high compared to the benefits it brought? In fact, many critics of the movement claim that it is merely a device to slander innocent men. It is, then, pertinent to see whether possible misuse of the movement is sufficient to discard it entirely.

The origin of the #MeToo movement – whereby women speak up publicly about sexual harassment – can be traced back to 2006, when Tarana Burke, an activist and sexual harassment survivor, used MySpace to help and advocate for vulnerable women who had suffered sexual harassment. Almost a decade later, the movement found its way spreading like wildfire over twitter, when actress Alyssa Milano suggested the use of #MeToo for women who had been assaulted or harassed.[3] This came after a New York Times article in 2017 exposed powerful Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein for harassing multiple women in the industry.[4] The article indicated that there had been numerous attempts to expose Weinstein in the past, however, women were reluctant to come forward, fearing dire consequences. Perhaps, as time passed by and the allegations against powerful men like Bill Cosby and Donald Trump were brought to surface, an environment was created wherein certain women – who had been violated decades before – felt encouraged to speaking up. The #MeToo movement simply added to that encouragement: one actresses’ message on social media lead to dozens of women revealing how they had been harassed or assaulted. It is pertinent to point out that many of these women were actresses, assistants, and close associates of Weinstein who had in fact worked for him.[5] This highlighted the importance of understanding workplace harassment and the grave need to cater to the power dynamics in such arenas that punish women – regardless of who they are.

Regardless of the advent of social media and its influence in exposing certain truths, the cruel reality of the practical restraints in the society remain prevalent. This includes the various legal technicalities and the social repercussions, which make it difficult to create an environment where women can easily speak up against their abusers. The mark of the #Metoo movement can be seen in different outcomes of Bill Cosby’s trials: first trial ended in a mistrial even with multiple allegations.

Furthermore, despite the drastic impact of this movement, it has posed difficulty in creating a noticeable effect on the legal and social constraints in Pakistan that overshadow women who come forward with their claims. The laws in place, namely the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010 (“Workplace Act”) coupled with the Defamation Ordinance of, 2002, as well as Section 509 of the Pakistan Penal Code (“PPC”), do little to help with the victims’ cases.

Cases of harassment post-#MeToo Movement

When singer Meesha Shafi claimed alleged harassment at the hands of another singer, Ali Zafar, she faced immense backlash from the public. It also led to Zafar filing a lawsuit of defamation in return. Barrister Jannat Ali Kalyar, who has worked on multiple cases such as this, pointed out that the lack of knowledge regarding sexual offences and the misuse of relevant laws has invariably caused hindrances for victims. Lahore High Court dismissed the case on technical grounds – given that Shafi’s relationship with Zafar did not qualify as that of an employer-employee under the Workplace Act. Such decisions are inevitably intertwined with the legal cost, which inhibits the law from any positive change – as the movement itself is deemed derogatory. The social cost of the #MeToo movement can be seen by the fact that once Shafi came forth with her claim, she not only became the face of this movement in Pakistan but was also accused of misusing it by her alleged harasser, Zafar.[6] Zafar, on the hand, continued to remain one of the most popular celebrities in the country.

Professor Hiba Akbar, a lawyer and Instructor of Constitutional Law at LUMS, has suggested that the problem lies within the understanding of harassment itself. What creates issues is the troublesome connotation of the #MeToo movement with the patriarchal mindset ­– which believes that if a woman comes forth with her abusive experience, she must have some ulterior motives, tagging her as the “#MeToo woman”. In reference to this Professor Akbar spoke about a victim who had brought a lawsuit against her instructor at a university in Lahore under the #MeToo movement. The victim’s case was publicized immensely and even after she moved to the US, she was unable to escape the questions regarding her action.

Ukhano, a Paksitnai Vlogger was another social media personality who had been accused of harassing multiple women. The victim, who initiated the allegation, was met with a defamation complaint in the FIA – that eventually declared the accusations as being false. There was complete disregard of the fact that multiple women had indicated similar experiences against the Vlogger, similar to Shafi’s case. This caused people to further argue that the #MeToo movement was being misused by women in Pakistan against men.

In a similar manner, Junaid Akram, a comedian and social media influencer, was accused by several women of harassment. The victims, many of them anonymous, recalled tales of inappropriate advances by Akram. Despite the proof provided and the anonymity of the victims, they were deemed to reporting their claims without basis. Junaid denied the accusations stating further that he intended “to pursue my legal remedies so as to protect myself.” No lasting impact has been seen on the comedian’s success and popularity.[7] Despite the accusers being as young as 16 years old, a number of people propounded ideas of Akram’s “choice” and “freedom of expression”

The use of the #MeToo movement has not made things any easier as women like Shafi, amongst others, end up being the face of “false accusations.” Faisal Edhi – head of the Edhi Foundation – was accused of sexually inappropriate behavior by Urooj Zia in October 2018.[8] Zia noted that it took her years to come forward with the accusation because, for a long time, she was unsure whether she invited his actions due to societal “conditioning.” It took her even longer to come forward because she doubted if anyone would believe her: after all, the person she was accusing was the son of an internationally respected philanthropist. However, encouraged by the spread of the #MeToo movement in Pakistan, she came forward with her story. She was also prepared for people not believing her, stating that while she was worried about backlash, it was pertinent that she shares her story. While Zia received countless messages of support on the social media platform, she was also faced with people disbelieving her story, even going so far as to call her a “mental health patient” for ‘making up’ the accusation. In response, Edhi called her “mentally disturbed” and “a tactic to defame the Edhi Foundation.” [9] Significantly, he continues to be the head of the Foundation. This came about after the #MeToo movement picked up pace in Pakistan but was eventually dissipated.

Patari cofounder and CEO, Khalid Bajwa, was similarly accused of sexual harassment on social media.[10] Several women (including those who were underage at the time of the incident) came forward with the accusations. The sheer volume of evidence led to his dismissal from the company. In an interesting turn of events, however, people started calling out to female friends of Bajwa to condemn him to prove their ‘feminism’ and started harassing females who worked in the company.

An anchor for PTV, Tanzeela Mazhar, came forward with her account of being harassed by the director of current affairs of national television of Pakistan, Agha Masood Shorish.[11] She has initially come forth with her complaint to a committee, who, instead of carrying out a proper investigation into the matter, started asking her questions such as “If you were being harassed, why didn’t you leave the job?” The committee also failed to produce a report in accordance with the timeline provided in the Workplace Act – reportedly, it was amended over six times to get a favorable end for the alleged preparator. In fact, the channel banned her and another female anchor (Yashfeen Jamal) from appearing on-air as their complaints about the harassment had ‘defamed’ the organization. One of her colleagues, Imran Hassan, stated that Tanzeela should “stop playing with PTV’s image for some petty personal gains.” Eventually, PTV let go of Shorish in pursuance of directives of Ministry of Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage. Unfortunately, however, Tanzeela eventually resigned from Pakistan Television after working there for 13 years, noting that she was “facing huge psychological torture every day” at work.

Interestingly, as seen in these various instances, a man’s prior character is easily dismissed when accused of harassment; however, when multiple women contend having experienced harassment at the hands of the same person, they are disregarded as having malicious agenda. In addition to that, it must be noted that the cost of the movement is even higher when the entire basis of it results from the use of social media. This can often make it harder for the legal practitioners, legislators, and the judiciary to the take the movement – and the resulting claims – as being serious. The problem, however, lies in the laws that are in place, which are, in fact, used as tools against women who speak out.

Legal Aspect:

In 2010, The Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act came about and defined sexual harassment for the first time. It is pertinent to point out that before this, there was no particular definition of harassment available, and no specific law talked about harassment at the workplace.  Section 509 of the PPC does criminalize any “word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman”; [12] however, the wording of the Section is such that it leaves a lot open for interpretation and discretion of the judges to decide – as to what constitutes as “modesty” and what in fact could be penalized. A problem with this is that since most judges tend to be male, the interpretation they take in defining terms like “insult to modesty” will be based on their own personal opinions discounting the experiences of the women who actually go through the situation. Furthermore, this Section specifies that such harassment is to do with the “modesty of a woman”, and thereby excludes all other genders who are harassed as well as negating other forms of harassment that are not particularly related to “modesty” – it is specifically gendered. This Section, therefore, needs to be reviewed and replaced with a broader understanding of the word “harassment” so as to include other genders and other non-consensual advances. Moreover, Barrister Jannat also indicated that Section 509 of the PPC makes harassment a criminal act, which requires proof that is beyond a reasonable doubt – for the perpetrator to be held guilty. The resulting problem is that in most cases - like Meesha Shafi’s – there are no witnesses; so, providing such clear and convincing evidence is cumbersome for the victims.

Similarly, problems arise from the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016. Section 20 of the Act criminalizes any instance or spread of information which could harm the reputation of another. As noted by Professor Hiba this Section essentially weaponized defamation against women who talk about sexual harassment. Barrister Jannat similarly notes that often women do not have evidence against the harassers because most instances take place behind doors. The criminalization of defamation further discourages women from speaking up against abuse – they are often slammed with FIRs or harassed by the FIA to retract their claim if they cannot provide evidence (as seen in Ukhano’s case).

All hope is not lost, however, with some judgments that understand the power differentials in the society and make decisions accordingly. In one of his judgments, Justice Jawwad Hassan of the Lahore High Court looked at various case laws from across the world to understand the term of Harassment as being broad enough to protect women from any unwanted advances.[13] He noted that the Workplace Act was not limited to the employer and employee relationship, but encompassed “all acts of sexual harassment committed by employer or employee with any women (at the workplace) by misusing/exploiting his/her official position/capacity.”[14] He noted that the objective of the Act was to create a safe work environment for women, and noted how unlikely it was for a woman “ruin her modesty/dignity/respect herself by making false complaint of sexual harassment.”[15]

Conclusion/Recommendation:

Haleema Rafiq, a 17-year-old cricketer in the Pakistan women’s team, committed suicide nearly 13 months after she, along with 4 other women, reported they had been asked for sexual favors in return for being selected on the team.[16] The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), however, dismissed the claim citing that there was no evidence against the chairman of Multan Cricket Club (MCC), Maulvi Sultan Alam, and a team selector, Mohammad Javed. Instead the women were fined and banned for 9 months for “bringing women's cricket into disrepute.” However, as pressure from the media mounted, the ban was ended. The troubles were far from over from the girls as the accused filed a suit of 20 million rupees against the complaints. Haleema, who had been receiving threatening calls, ingested a bottle of bleach as soon as she received summons by the court.

It has been seen time and again how victims of sexual abuse are silenced due to societal constraints and legal procedures. Along with the already arduous task of dealing with the assault comes the pressure of reporting the crime. However, quite often women are reminded of their allegations could ‘ruin the perpetrators life.’[17] The idea of how ‘traumatic’[18] an allegation can be for an abuser manifests in ways that can have a lasting impact: sympathy for the abusers results in lenient sentences so not to have too severe repercussion.[19] In doing so, however, people forget the price the victims pay: silence, repeated offences, years of suffering, societal backlash, and more.

It is essential to consider that in order to engrave the significance of the #MeToo movement and create a culture whereby victims are encouraged to come forward, there need to be clear amendments to the existing laws. Nearly 93% of women in Pakistan experience some form of sexual abuse and violence.[20] The cost for these victims, such as Haleema, is too high. It is necessary to create an environment where women are encouraged to speak up and avoid discrediting an entire movement. “These shortcomings…as well as others identified by legal experts, should be addressed if #MeToo is to empower women in Pakistan.”[21] This is a heavy cost to bear, but it is one that is essential.

Really liked this. Flowed well, covered examples, laws, shortcomings.

9.5/10