#METOO

A man can feel for a woman who has suffered sexual abuse, so can he presume to say anything when he has never been a victim?

- Venkatraman Sheshashayee

The flood of revelations by women about sexual harassment following similar allegations against the Hollywood producer Harvey Winstein has unleashed a media storm. And it is not only women who are outraged. After having watched the #METOO movement unfold in recent weeks, the author said that he too had seen some men (and women) deny reality; explaining, rationalising, rejecting the sexual abuse of women. “ I am 55 years old and have seen subtle and overt repression of women all my life. I am also an avid reader and am aware of how women have been treated historically. Thus, this gratuitous denial angered me,” he told India Se. Moved to share his pain and anger, here is what he wrote:

She sits sobbing, her body curling into an almost foetal position. Her face is strained, her hands clenched, her body wracked with fear, anger and shame. She feels violated and vulnerable, having experienced what every woman does countless times.