Facebook Campaign To Name And Shame Academics Accused Of Sexual Harassment Creates Furore  

Hyderabad: A Facebook post by a woman lawyer kicked off a major controversy with 58 professors having been listed by victims and the institution they serve at as sexual harassers. The campaigner invited others to to name academics who have sexually harassed their students and the post went viral on Tuesday.

The list includes several prominent academics from India’s premier academic institutions such as JNU, Delhi University and FTII. Among them are 12 professors at Jadavpur University, nine at Delhi University, three each from Film and Television Institute of India(FTII), Pune and SRFTI, two professors at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and one of them is a leading political theorist from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences.

The post reads: "If anyone knows of academics who have sexually harassed/were sexually predatory to them or have seen it first hand PM me and I'll add them to the list"

Also named in the list include 31 academics working at Oxford University, St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, University of California Santa Cruz, Ambedkar University Delhi, EFLU, Hyderabad and Christ University.

Raya Sarkar, whose Facebook profile describes her as an "an attorney interested in prisoner's rights, reproductive rights and anti-caste jurisprudence", posted the invitation at 12.25am on October 24 and asked others to add the names of their sexual harassers to the list.

The post immediately hit a chord and others started sending the predators' names from various parts of the country.

In a latest comment on the response she was receiving, Raya Sarkar said, "Most if not all are first-person accounts of people who were molested/sexually harassed by the people who have been put on this list. Rest are a friend (sic) they (the victims) have chosen to specifically contact me as they fear their identity being disclosed. In fact, since there is a disturbing amount of rape apologia and victim blaming the victims have gone out of their way to show me screenshots of them being harassed and abused by the people they have named."

Raya, who lives in Davis, USA, according to her Facebook profile, says: I am able to identify three men as serial sexual harrassers. 1. Lawrence Liang, AUD: I came to know about him being a serial sexual harasser a few months ago from two women I know. I know Lawrence through my work with Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore. 2. Gautam Chakravarty, DU, English Dept: I had completely forgotten about him until I saw his name in the list. I used to attend his class during my MA and I used to find his classes very uncomfortable because he would constantly make inappropriate jokes and act over-familiar with women students. This was long time ago before Indian college/university campuses were talking about SH cases like it is happening now and I didn't know how to articulate the discomfort one feels with certain predatory male professors like we are able to do now. 3. Ashley Tellis: If this is the currently Bangalore-based Ashley Tellis, then this man is a rabid online abuser of chinki women and men. I have evidence of the foul language he's used against me during a disagreement. Other chinki people also have their own stories.

I'm posting this because I think it is important for friends of victims/survivors to stand up and corroborate their accounts/allegations, she said.

This list is many things. I don't think we can even begin to fathom the many discussions this list has already set off and will continue to do for years to come."

Sarkar’s post comes in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal currently rocking Hollywood in which at least 40 actresses have come forward to narrate cases of sexual harassment by the American film producer.

The Raya Sarkar Facebook post is in line with an article by C. Christine Fair on Huffington Post published on October 19 — which has since been deleted. In it, she traced the harassment she faced throughout her life beginning with her uncle at an early age, through similar experiences at various academic institutions. In the process, Christine Fair called out some prominent academics.

Raya Sarkar’s post caused a furore on Facebook with one supporter saying, "We have our fair share of predators in science, but what terrifies me about this list is so many of these men make a living out of talking about morality and justice and feminism?!"

Women Activists Decry The Initiative

While the initiative gathered a fair share of supporters, several women activists voiced reservations about the initiative. A post titled ‘Statement by feminists on Facebook campaign to "Name and Shame’ on Kafila.online, signed by activists such as Ayesha Kidwai, Kavita Krishnan, Nivedita Menon among others, said, "We are dismayed by the initiative on Facebook in which men are being listed and named as sexual harassers with no context or explanation. One or two names of men who have been already found guilty of sexual harassment by due process are placed on par with unsubstantiated accusations. It worries us that anybody can be named anonymously, with lack of answerability."