“C’mon let me drop you home, honey”

 “I wasn’t stalking her. Just trying to make the new girl feel comfortable”

 “Can’t we share a good laugh over this funny sex joke in my phone?”

Sexual harassment in the workplace is one of the most underrated offences, as viewed in by companies, society or by the law.

Victim blaming is common and consent is somehow taken for granted because men and women are expected to ‘play along’ in good humour (or for the future of their career) and to conduct themselves with professionalism (a.k.a act like affect less beings ) of a work environment.

Since a brave journalist came out and blew the cover on Tehelka‘s Editor-in-Chief, Tarun Tejpal, a lot more women (in particular, journalists) have come forward with their stories that they had been so far silent about or the legal cases that, to this day, they’re fighting.

Like any other form of violence, such as child sexual abuse, the cycle continues because of the silence around the issue.

We’re inviting YOU to break this silence by writing about an instance of harassment (faced by your or someone close to you) that was dismissed as a bad lapse of judgment by the perpetrator on a poster. This Buzzfeed post is a good example of the kind of posters we want to showcase online and offline.

“My cousin faced continuous harassment by a subordinate in her office, who was confident that her complaint could not get him fired. Sure enough, when she complained, she was asked to leave” – Journalist.

You could choose to show your identity or remain anonymous. But choose not to remain silent, for the issue is as recurring as rampant across industries, sectors and classes of men and women.

At a time when the brutal violation of consent is being passed off as ‘a bad lapse of judgement’ and further, defended by resorting to the classical victim blame and character assassination, it is of utmost importance to come out in solidarity.

Do check out ‘Is it a girl/guy thing?‘ campaign that we did last year to know how we address violence against women from the inception of gender biases.

Do pass this in your network to bring out voices shunned in silence and stigma.

Send your pictures anonymously to contribute@thealternative.in.

Republished from “The Alternative”

 

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