Off Limits: The role of News and social media in developing sexual assault and harassment as a campaign issue during the Indian parliamentary elections of 2019

This mixed-method study includes the analysis of political manifestos and Facebook posts during the campaign, news articles published in the two most circulated English newspapers in India and interviews with political journalists. The restrained mainstream media coverage of sexual assault and pan-Indian social media platforms helped to limit the issue from becoming a part of the campaign during the elections; one of the reasons for this was the involvement of media professionals in sexual harassment and abuse in newsrooms, jeoparding the safety of women journalists. RQ1: What was the role of the news media in emphasizing issues of sexual assault and harassment during the Indian parliamentary election campaign in 2019? RQ2: What was the role of the news media in developing sexual assault and harassment as a campaign issue during the Indian parliamentary election campaign of 2019?

Sample

Issues of sexual harassment and abuse as newsworthy electoral campaign issues have the potential to open a Pandora’s box of sexual harassment and sexist attitudes in newsrooms in India (Chadha et al., 2016; Chaudhuri, 2017). Starting from the harassment case filed against former Tehelka magazine editor Tarun Tejpal to #MetooIndia, Indian newsrooms have been the focus of public and social media discourse on the existing culture in Indian society (Chadha et al.,2016; Pain, 2021). There is no denying that the reduced focus on issues concerning this culture in newsrooms is associated with journalistic bias in information flow.

Main Findings

"The following factors include the summaries of the findings of the two research questions on the role of news media in the non-inclusion of sexual assault, harassment and #Metooindia in the most recent election campaigns in India: 1. The 2012 Delhi gang-rape incident, also known as the #Nirbhaya campaign, first started as an offline, physical social movement and social media platforms were used to rally more people by disseminating information about the protests. #Nirbhaya included conversations about the safety of women in public spaces, which, for political rhetoric, is a stronger narrative as compared to #Metooindia. In the narrative of workplace sexual harassment compared to public space sexual harassment, the latter leads to stronger rhetoric for political campaigns, as 48.1 per cent of the total population in India are women and only 28.5 percent of women are in the Indian workforce (statistics from ILO and World Economic Forum, 2018). 2. As an organic movement, #Metooindia is based and originated in social media platforms, involving victims and survivors from urban areas, upper castes and classes and metro cities, with access to social media platforms. The nature of the movement has potentially isolated victims/survivors from a more rural background, which could be a potential reason why it failed to become a part of the political campaign. 3. Indian politicians reacted with restraint to #Metooindia, unlike in the Nirbhaya or similar unfortunate incidents. One reason for this was the accusations of sexual harassment made against their colleagues. When #MetooIndia began again in September 2017, one of the first contentions or assertions by some political and social observers was that the movement was politically motivated and orchestrated because a central minister was accused of harassment. This made the issue too controversial to be included in the election manifestos."

Policy recommendations/implications

Systemic changes in newsrooms and journalism are required on issues of sexual violence and harassment. The recognition and proactive sharing of resources with women journalists will support their safety in the profession. An unbiased reporting system, transparency of the process, and taking action against perpetrators in the newsrooms will decrease sexual harassment and abuse against women journalists in newsrooms. Women journalists often leave their profession due to physical and emotional harassment; the involvement of newsrooms prevents them from covering the issue due to conflict of interest. Thus, an interdependence of both news and social media centering around sexual harassment will give them an opportunity to share their harassment and force newsrooms to be more transparent in their process.