Breaking Barriers: Migration, and Fight Against Sexual Harassment in India

The #MeToo movement has been recognized as a significant turning point for women where they have shown courage in speaking out about sexual harassment, leading to the downfall of several influential men in politics, media, and entertainment. The #MeToo movement in India can be understood against the backdrop of global movements on gender inequality, especially with regard to sexual harassment and violence and its impact on gender (in)equality in the country. The #MeToo movement was launched in the United States in 2006 by Ms. Tarana Burke (Brockes 2018) to promote unity among women of color and others who had suffered sexual abuse and harassment and has had a significant impact in India, where it began in late 2018 (Mishra 2020). The movement not only provided opportunities, but also a sense that individual women reporting harassment were not alone (Castells 2015). In fact, it confirmed that experiences of sexual harassment are widespread and routine for women. The #MeToo movement began in 2006 as a channel for reports of sexual harassment and other concerns from women, particularly women of color (Langone 2018), and has led to an increase in the number of reports and engagement with issues of sexual harassment. However, it was the tweet by Alyssa Milano, an American actress, in 2017, that sparked the use of #MeToo worldwide. Her Twitter post “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.” encouraged women to share their experiences of sexual harassment and received overwhelming results (Pflum 2018).