Written as part of the Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (more details HERE). The idea is to write a short story of 100 words based on the photo prompt (above).
To read stories of 100 words based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.
WHY ‘#ME TOO’ ISN’T ENOUGH
PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook
By Neel Anil Panicker
‘She’s not wrong.’
“Agreed. But all I’m saying is she’s wrong in the way she’s doing it.”
‘Oh! So you say that if a man harasses, molests or worse rapes another woman, then she should gulp that down and keep mum, right?’
“All I’m saying is she should file charges then and there. Not after a decade.”
‘So that’s her fault? That she chose to keep quiet, right?’
“Wrong again. Keeping quiet is no fault. But speaking up after very many years definitely is. The world may still believe what she says but the courts, sadly, don’t operate on belief.”
#neelanilpanicker #MeTooCampaign #flash #fiction #FridayFictioneers #100words
neelwritesblog 
The point, of course, is he’s not in a court. He’s having a job interview
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An all important job interview whose outcome depends on a sterling reputation that can’t be shred to pieces for an alleged act done some decades ago.
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Summed up many of the difficulties around this subject well, Neel.
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Thanks Kwlly.
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Sadly I have heard these conversations been had & you have written it very realistically. There is a huge victim-blaming culture that is quite dangerous. I worry about that lack of empathy some people have.
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Victim blaming is what we are seeing now. But the moot question still remains who is the ‘real’ victim in such situations.
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Completely agree. It all depends on the situation. Some peoples’ lives are ruined by abuse & others’ lives by lies.
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After seeing the reactions of the men in that room, I wonder that anyone would ever come forward. It’s enraging. Good piece.
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Thanks HARDY.
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It’s been a tough week for those who kept quiet. But watching recent events, who can blame them for having done so. You captured that.
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True, let this be a huge wake up call for all victims of sexual abuse. Let them come out and scream from the rooftops then and there. That’s the only way we can put such perpetrators behind bars for a long, long time.
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Dear Neel,
Women were often blamed for the way they dressed etc if they did come forward back in the day. Who can blame them for keeping silent. Well written and thought provokinv piece this week.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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W
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Women in India and the subcontinent are still blamed for having “invited” rape merely by the simple act of dressing ‘provocatively’. I am glad you’ve understood the sensitivity of the issue. Thanks Rochelle.
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A thought-provoking piece of writing, Neel. Well done.
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No! No! No!
There is no limitation on when truth can be told. Women have been abused and raped, and then coerced into remaining silent. Yes, immediately reporting the rape is best, but the men involved have had considerable power over their victims.
It’s been commonplace and it must stop. Now.
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I think truth matters… and even if there are statutes of limitations truth and the possibility of purgatory has to be considered…
The price a woman has to pay to speak up is always the highest, and many of the men who are accused are general bullies against men as well… I have always kept far away from “male bonding”…
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I don’t think that would hold up from women who have been raped. What’s going on now is about taking the power to do something when it occurs. It’s never been like that, and may not be like that going forward. it should be, and it should be taken seriously.
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Apparently some courts operate on belief. Bill Cosby has been sentenced for crimes that took place a very long time ago.
It is terrible for any sexual assault victim. Not only are they physically, emotionally, spiritually devastated. They are also persuaded that they can’t tell, because worse things will happen; or no one will believe them; or the perp will simply say ‘your word against mine.” Emotional blackmail at its worst.
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I agree with those who say that truth must matter. Yes, truth and truth alone must matter but for that the legal system must be strong enough to handle it.
And most importantly, women must come forward then and there to bring their perpetrators to book. The ruse that an out and out patriarchal all boys club stops women from reporting and coming forth with incidents of sexual assault is fast turning inconsequential and only emboldening the wrong doers to fearlessly and shamelessly carry on with their utterly despicable attacks on women.
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I don’t know that I am sad that the legal system does not operate on belief.
I do feel compassion for victims, but I also feel compassion for public figures who are roasted on a spit for public entertainment.
You did portray the victim’s perspective well, and pointed out several of the problems that occur when current law and protections are applied in the case of a sexual offense, especially if witnesses (other than the accused and the accuser) are nonexistent or biased or fail to remember the incident, and if physical evidence has long since disappeared.. The results of protecting the accused through these means may seems cold and callous and unfair from a victim’s perspective.
The US system is not perfect. But it does seek to protect the accused against unproven claims. The existence of false negatives (people who did an act, yet are found innocent of it) is preferred in our system over false positives (people who did not do an act, yet are found guilty of it.) The presumption of innocence and the statute of limitations are but two prongs of the law, that seek to protect a person from being wrongfully convicted.
But I fear any judgments that are made in the court of public opinion, or in a process seething with politics, no matter how believable the witnesses or how fair their arbiters.
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The universe has a way of catching up to those who do evil. It is only a matter of time.
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