The impact of MeToo movement

Velocity MR, a leading market research and analysis company announced the results of their pan India study to understand the concerns and viewpoints of urban Indians surrounding the Me-Too campaign. The study featured a sample size of 2,569 covering prominent Indian metros including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

In India, #MeToo has spread virally as a hashtag on social media reflecting the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment directed towards women. In recent times there has been a flurry of cases being reported cutting across varied walks of life, varied age groups and multiple industry segments. 

The study recorded some interesting insights where respondents felt with 8 out of 10 people saying that formal workplace interactions have been highly impacted as a result of this. Close to 80% of the respondents say fear of losing the career, family reputation, social stigma, and skepticism can be one of the reasons for #MeToo victims not reporting the cases earlier. 71% of the respondents say #MeToo is prevalent at homes as well. Majority of these victims don’t talk or report these incidents. 

Jasal Shah, Managing Director & CEO of Velocity MR noted: “India is caught in the crest of its #MeToo wave with new cases of sexual abuse and harassment against women being reported every few days. It has seen a large number of women speaking up against sexual harassment and abuse past and present. It’s very inspiring to see that the movement has given a voice to the many suppressed incidents of abuse, but people should handle it with a lot of responsibility I believe”.

Highlights of the Study

• In the wake of #MeToo, formal workplace interactions are seen to be highly impacted with 8 in 10 respondents claiming the same.
• Close to 80% of males say that men have become overly cautious in their interactions with women colleagues in the wake of #MeToo movement. 
• Close to 80% of the respondents say fear of losing the career, family reputation, Social Stigma, and Skepticism can be one of the reasons for #MeToo victims not reporting the cases earlier. 
• 71% of the respondents say #MeToo is prevalent at homes as well. Majority of these victims don’t talk or report these incidents.
• 83% of the respondents believe that there are cases of false allegations in the wake of #MeToo. In spite of respondents feeling that there are false allegations too, they are (4 out of 5) hopeful that this would bring about a good change.
• 7 in every 10 say by encouraging the affected women to be independent can be a possible way to make them break their silence about the abuse.
• 58% of females suggest the support of NGOs to help the #MeToo victims at homes.
• A homogeneous break is maintained between genders (Male & Female) to consider the opinions of both on #MeToo.
• When asked whether or not men are facing their #MeToo, many respondents feel that possibility cannot be denied.
• 1 in every 2 respondent feels that working or not, all women are equally vulnerable to the abuse
• 4 in 10 respondents say working women are prime victims of #MeToo. 6 in 10 believe mental/emotional pressure from seniors is a major reason for the same.  
• Close to 50% respondents disapprove the move of the victims in reporting the abuse later. 2 in 5 males support the victims and say they are right in reporting the abuse later. 
• Although the majority of cases coming up in #MeToo are from Media-Bollywood industry, other industries are not considered safe by close to 77% of the respondents.
• 7 in every 10 say abusers are not only the powerful men. The act and attitude cuts across the socio-economic strata. 
• 7 in 10 respondents agree with the statement that even after reporting the cases, victims are still facing threats.
• Majority of respondents believe the time has come for us to stand together in support of the victims to make sure that every single victim can break the silence and speak up.