Now a #MenToo movement to 'expose' harassment by women
Bengaluru, Oct 21: On the lines of #Metoo, a group of 15 people, including a former French diplomat acquitted in a sexual abuse case in 2017, has launched a #MenToo movement, asking men to come out and speak openly about the sexual harassment faced by them at the hands of women.
The campaign was launched here Saturday by NGO Children's Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (Crisp) to protest against the #Metoo movement, false cases aganist men among others.
Speaking on the occasion, National President of Crisp, Kumar V Jahgirdar said the group would fight for gender neutral laws and demand punishment for those filing false cases under #MeToo campaign.
Noting that #MeToo was a good movement, he however said it should not be misused to fix somebody by levelling false allegations.
"This movement has only resulted in bringing disrepute to men who have worked hard to earn respect in society," he said.
Later, talking to reporters, Jahgirdar said unlike #MeToo victims, who bring about sexual abuse stories that happened a couple of decades ago, the #MenToo stories would be related to recent incidents.
On #MeToo movement, Jahgirdar further said if the affected women have genuine case of sexual misbehaviour, they should take legal recourse, instead of putting out stories on social media.
Former French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, who was accused of sexually abusing his daughter and later acquitted by a city court in 2017 also took part in the protest.
He said #MenToo campaign was not at all a counter to #MeToo campaign, but to address the problems of men who do not speak up against women's atrocities.
"There is real pain among men.. They are also suffering, but they are not coming out in the open against women and their misdemeanors," he said.
The false allegations levelled on men in #MeToo campaign not only destroys children's future, but also families, Pascal noted.
"We make laws to protect women. That is fine, but let us not forget half of humanity are men," he added.
Pascal is facing a court battle after his wife had moved the Karnataka High Court challenging a city-based court's verdict acquitting him.
Pascal's wife has custody of their three children.
The #Me Too movement has gathered pace over the past few days with a number of women speaking out on sexual harassment at their workplace and support for them has been pouring in from various quarters.
Former Union Minister MJ Akbar, film personalities like Alok Nath, Subhash Ghai, Nana Patekar and Vairamuthu have been accused of sexual harassment by a number of women under the #MeToo movement.
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
