The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) is delighted to welcome the court verdict declaring the former journalist Priya Ramani not guilty of defaming former Union minister M J Akbar, whom she had accused of sexual harassment.
Priya Ramani’s courage as well as that of a key defence witness and journalist, Ghazala Wahab, in testifying against Mr Akbar has been characterized as vindication of the #MeToo movement in India, but it is much more than that.
It is a vindication of us women journalists, who have forever protested sexual harassment and assault and shied away from unwelcome attention in the newsroom. All we want is a safe working space, so that we can hold the outside world to account; instead, we often find that the predators are within.
Priya Ramani went to meet the former editor M J Akbar for a job interview, as long back as in 1994. It took her till 2017 to write about it in a magazine when the #MeToo movement broke the floodgates in the US. She only named Akbar in a tweet the following year, upon which he filed a criminal case against her, accusing her of defaming him. She was now a double victim.
The IWPC applauds Priya Ramani’s determination not to give up, for breaking the silence around this issue. Fact is, even at the height of the #Metoo movement, only 20 women journalists decided to go public about their ordeal, consumed by a misplaced sense of honour.
The IWPC hopes that women journalists across the country will find the courage to emulate Priya Ramani and Ghazala Wahab. They have shown us the way.