Activism or slacktivism?

In a chat with Nandita Bose, author Pallavi Guha states that social media spaces have empowered voices against sexual abuse but the sustainability of these movements has been an issue

Pallavi Guha’s new book Hear #metoo in India: News, Social Media, and Anti-Rape and Sexual Harassment Activism (Rutgers University Press) focuses on the role media platforms play in anti-rape and sexual harassment feminist activism in India, including #Metoo. Pallavi discusses her seminal book and work in this exclusive interview with Nandita Bose.

What impels you to study gender and violence against women in India?

Gender studies were not a part of the curriculum during my undergraduate days, so I wrote research papers and magazines on the intersection of my discipline, Political Science/International Relations, with violence against women. Activism and the policy changes after Jyoti Singh’s rape and murder inspired me to center my doctoral studies around activists who dedicate their lives to survivors and victims of sexual violence.

How did this book come about and what are its main takeaways?

This research project began in 2015, with interviews from 2016-2019. In 2017, a week before I submitted my doctoral dissertation #Metoo happened. I couldn’t include much of #Metoo and I wanted to analyse the media narrative of sexual violence activism through the lens of #Metoo. After #MetooIndia happened in September 2018, I scrambled to get interviews with anti-sexual violence activists and journalists. For anti-rape and sexual harassment activism to be a part of public narrative and political agenda, there has to be an association between social media platforms and news media in digitally emerging spaces. For instance, unlike the #Nirbhaya movement of 2012 which resulted in robust public agenda and policy, #MetooIndia did not have such outcomes. This, despite social media platforms evolving at light speed in the past six-seven years. Rural feminist activists and journalists see the impact of the movement very differently, for all the hashtag activism era of MeToo. They recognise the power of social media but do not overlook mainstream news media since news media in India was growing until 2019.

Based on your research, how may the media partner with Indian society to build awareness and activism against violence on women?

Survivors and activists from rural India still consider journalists and news media platforms of justice because they may help amplify abuse and harassment. There is still room for more by focusing on issues of VAW qualitatively. In semi-rural areas, activists typically struggle to provide justice for survivors/ victims by forgoing their daily wages or meals. Such stories and those of the most vulnerable victims/ survivors from the marginalised communities of the lower class, caste, religion, and location must be told.

Does social media activism on feminist issues fill you with hope?

Yes, of course. Social media spaces have empowered voices against sexual harassment and abuse. There’s impact, but the movements’ sustainability has been an issue due to slacktivism and other factors.