A System That Does Not Believe In Women

India’s medal winning wrestlers’ prolonged public battle to get their voices heard and action taken against the accused goes to show how the issue of sexual harassment against women in India continues to be met with disbelief, apathy, steely silence and unrelenting neglect.

Little did the wrestlers know that this fight would prove to be much tougher than their usual professional wresting bouts with opponents. The protesting female wrestlers who in the past have overcome many personal, professional and structural struggles are perhaps fighting for their hardest battle for justice now.

All the protesting wrestlers are players of international repute, having a promising future, who should have been practicing and preparing for the Paris Olympics of 2024 now.  Instead, they were compelled to stage a sit-in public protest beginning this year, demanding arrest of the President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on allegations of sexual harassment of female wrestlers and for perpetrating fear and intimidation during his tenure.

The female wrestlers have accused Singh of groping, touching breasts and navels  without consent, stalking, intimidation, and demanding “sexual favours” in exchange for professional help, all of which led to a “shared sense of fear and trauma” among the women wrestlers. The FIRs filed by the complainant mention that the women wrestlers went out only in groups to have food to avoid meeting Singh alone. One of the complainants also stated that he threatened her with repercussions in the upcoming tournament trials for resisting his attempts to make physical contact with her.

Over the months, the wrestlers met the Sports Minister, approached the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) with a complaint against Singh. An Oversight Committee was formed to investigate the allegations. However, despite the serious nature of the allegations and growing demands for action from various sections, the complaint fell on deaf ears of government and authorities and the sexual harassment claims were met with a general apathy and dismissive attitude. While the government kept on saying it was “open to discussions” there was a growing perception it did not show alacrity in taking action against the accused. The IOA President P.T. Usha on the other hand termed the protests as “indiscipline” and “tarnishing the image of India.” The Delhi Police too initially refused to lodge the FIRs and it took a sustained sit-in protest and the Supreme Court’s intervention for the FIRs to be registered.

Why do we still refuse to believe women or listen to them when they express their grievances or speak up? What further evidence did the Police and other authorities needed? Several internationally recognised sportspersons came out in support of the protesting wrestlers and spoke out collectively about sustained harassment and intimidation by a powerful and authoritative figure at the helm of affairs since more than a decade. How can all of them lie? It’s not easy for women to demand police action against a powerful male public figure at enormous risk to their careers especially considering the culture of backlash against women victims and accusers.

Even to be able to reach the point of complaining against their harasser, women have to fight hard against retaliatory shaming, blaming, personal attacks, intimidation, threats and other pressure tactics like blaming the complainants for the timing of the complaint, for continuing to socially interact with the accused and for not behaving like a victim etc. Quite often, the intent is to diminish the responsibility of men in powerful positions and shift the onus on women.

Too often, allegations of sexual misconduct are overlooked or disregarded. In this instance, the lack of quick grievance redressal sends a message to women athletes that their safety, dignity and well-being are not a priority and they are expected to tolerate and accept sexual harassment as an inevitable part of their career. A patriarchal mindset simply cannot take complaints of sexual harassment seriously. It’s a system that does not believe women. Singh has been doing what important and powerful, men in his position usually do – he said the women are lying.

While we talk about the greater participation and empowerment of women, we do not want to speak of the existing conditions of their work and the discrimination that they face. When women raise their voices against discrimination and harassment, they are labelled ‘liars,’ and ‘indiscipline.’

True to the norm, the six-time MP has denied all allegations and opined that laws related to sexual harassment are flawed and are being misused against him. One of the reasons why the wrestlers are out on the streets protesting is because they do not want to participate in selection trials for the Olympics, he alleged!

What protects Singh like many other perpetrators of sexual harassment and violence is a system that does not believe women and other vulnerable individuals. The same system questions the integrity of the complainants, the timing of the complaint and their character.

The entire world watched as the protesting sporting icons sustained injuries while being shoved and hustled during their peaceful march to the newly inaugurated Parliament building. They were treated as criminals after being slapped with multiple charges of rioting, unlawful assembly and disobedience to order), while the accused with much more serious allegations continued to roam free.

The FIRs filed charged Singh under various IPC sections, including assaulting a woman to outrage her modesty,  sexual harassment and stalking, which are punishable with jail terms of two-three years. He has also been booked under the POCSO Act. Under these serious charges, Singh should have been arrested and produced before a magistrate immediately but he continues to walk free.

The response to the protest reeks of patriarchy too. A movement led by women in a male-dominated set-up against a powerful and authoritative male, close to the powers that be, is most likely to be suppressed to keep patriarchal values and the status quo intact. The chauvinism, blatant disregard and impunity displayed by Singh over the past few months is a perfect example of gender discrimination by men in positions of power.

The protest and the treatment meted to the female wresters has other ramifications as well. For many young girls aspiring to be wrestlers  from villages and modest backgrounds, it would have been shocking seeing their role models being violated by the police force. The lack of action against the accused and the unsafe environment of harassment are sure to dissuade many parents from supporting their girls to take up wrestling.

What is also alarming is the sustained harassment and the culture of silence. The harassment of female wrestlers was continuing since 2012 but it was only recently that it came out in the open. Trainee wrestlers revealed that  Singh was not just the head of this culture but was also an active participant in other coaches’ mistreatment of women wrestlers and intimidating anyone who dared seek help. Reportedly, it wasn’t the first time that Vinesh Phogat had heard such accusations and was aware of such sexual misconduct and had also informed the PM when she met him after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Women wrestlers in India have fought hard to be part of the male-dominated wrestling fraternity. The wrestling fraternity was not welcoming of women in the sport, which was considered a male domain until the 2000s. No wrestling competition was open for women wrestlers and there were threats, boycotts against women wrestlers. However, this did not deter women wrestlers from winning medals at international competitions.

So while Indian women are establishing their rightful place in sports, governing bodies like sports federations and the government are yet to ensure necessary mechanisms for their safety equality and dignity.

The Mary Kom-led Oversight Committee formed by the Sports Ministry on January 23, 2023, found in its report that the WFI did not have an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) as mandated by the Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (PoSH) Act, 2013. This means the women wrestlers did not have access to an ICC that would have given them an easy and reliable means of filing a complaint. Shockingly, over half of the national sports federations don’t have sexual harassment panels or any such mechanism for players to register their grievances.

This is not the first time that officials of sports federations have been accused of sexual harassment charges. Unfortunately however, the athletes hesitate to complain, fearing harm to their career prospects.

This case has implications not just for sportswomen but all women and young girls in India. Not only has it sparked a debate about the prevalence of sexual harassment in sports in India and the lack of stronger measures to prevent and address such incidents but also the way public protests by women is addressed. It also represents a larger pattern of gender-based violence and discrimination in sports, where women athletes are discriminated and marginalised.

The sight of these sportspersons doggedly pursuing their cause, putting their lives on hold and their careers at stake, has also been inspiring for many who have also joined them in their quest for justice. The protests are also a telling commentary on the lack of an enabling environment for women victims to voice their protest against sexual harassment.

“When the government isn’t listening to us, how will the common people, the common women trust that their voice will be listened to?” Sakshi Malik had reportedly said. The movement has prompted the Supreme Court to instruct all ministries and departments to constitute such bodies in an urgent manner, including in all sports federations. It is through such movements that advancements in laws related to women’s rights have been possible.

In a country where girls and women are still fighting for their rights, freedom, dignity and safety, watching the wrestlers’ protest unfold seems like a personal journey for me. As a woman I feel a strong sense of sisterhood with them and for the cause.

(Opinions and thoughts expressed on an online platform reflect only the author’s views)