#MenToo is a social movement in India which was started against false sexual harassment allegations in MeToo movement in India. The movement was widely spread out after Bollywood actress

Pooja Bedi Pooja Bedi (born 11 May 1970) is an Indian actress, television talk show host and newspaper columnist. She is the daughter of Indian actors Kabir Bedi and Protima Bedi. She participated in the reality television shows ''Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'', '' ...

and Founder of Purush Aayog Barkha Trehan appealed to bring gender neutral laws and investigation, after actor

Karan Oberoi Karan B Oberoi is an Indian singer, anchor and television actor. He is known for being a part of an Indipop boy band, A Band Of Boys, formed in 2001 and for playing the role of Raghav in ''Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin'' (2003–06). The band was form ...

was arrested on 5 May 2019 due to a sexual harassment complaint filed against him by his ex-girlfriend.

History

2018

A Bangalore-based NGO, Children's Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), started the #MenToo initiative in October 2018 in response to #MeToo movement. Protestors in Bengaluru said that their movement is against false cases registered under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, and added that their fight is also against the ordeal of children who are raised by single parents following a disturbing separation.

2019 (Karan Oberoi)

Actor Karan Oberoi was arrested on 5 May 2019, after a 34-year-old woman claimed that he had raped her on multiple occasions and had also extorted money and gifts from her. However, they were in a consensual relationship as per the affidavit filed by Karan Oberoi in court. Immediately after his arrest, his friend and Bollywood actress Pooja Bedi came in his support to bring gender neutral laws and investigation to launch the #MenToo movement. Australian social commentator

Bettina Arndt Bettina Mary Arndt (born 1 August 1949) is an Australian writer and commentator who specialises in sex and gender issues. Starting as a sex therapist and self-proclaimed feminist, she established her career in the 1970s publishing and broadcas ...

has written a book with the same title.

2022 (Johnny Depp)

In February 2019, actor Johnny Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against actress

Amber Heard Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She had her first leading role in the horror film ''All the Boys Love Mandy Lane'' (2006), and went on to star in films such as '' The Ward'' (2010) and '' Drive Angry'' (2011). S ...

for $50 million over her allegedly defaming op-ed of him in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. The case rose after Heard was found to have allegedly abused Depp while they were married; Heard fought these claims by claiming the other way around. On 11 April 2022, the official trial began. On 1 June, Heard was found liable of three counts of defamation and was obligated to pay approximately $10.35 million in damages. The case sparked the rise of the #MenToo movement outside of India.

Protest

Twitter

Twitter users tweeted with #MenToo to show support with accused Karan Oberoi and protested against the unfair laws that target men. Twitter users were posting under the hashtag, claiming that these types of accusations cause suicide.

Bengaluru

In late 2018, amidst the #Metoo movement, Bengaluru based NGO CRISP had carried out protest in the city for demanding justice for the victims who have faced the consequences due to false cases registered under IPC section 498A, in addition to the ordeal of children who are raised by single parents following a separation.

Delhi

Men Rights Activist KD Jha and Barkha Trehan (Founder of Purush Aayog) are continuously highlighting and leading the various protests in Delhi highlighting the Gender Discrimination faced by Men as a Gender.

Mumbai

Number of people from various fields, including actors and various men's right activists participated in the peaceful Dharna organised at

Azad Maidan Azad Maidan (formerly known as ''Bombay Gymkhana Maidan'') is a triangular-shaped maidan (sports ground) in the city of Mumbai, India. It is located on of land near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station. It is a regular venue for inter-schoo ...

, Mumbai on 15 June 2019 to support #MenToo movement. Karan Oberoi and Pooja Bedi also participated in the protest.

Views

Men Too movement was being applauded by the Men's Rights Activist. Prominent Men Rights Activist like KD Jha,

Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj is an Indian journalist, documentary film-maker and men's rights activist. Bhardwaj rose to prominence after producing the documentary ''Martyrs of Marriage'', which covered abuses of criminal section 498A (Anti-dowry la ...

, Barkha Trehan etc are continuously raising their voice to highlight the Gender Discrimination faced by Men as a Gender " Actress

Tanushree Dutta Tanushree Dutta (pronounced ) is an Indian actress and model. Dutta won the Femina Miss India Universe title in 2004 at age 20. In the same year at the Miss Universe beauty pageant held in Ecuador, she represented India amongst 133 other count ...

who had pioneered #MeToo movement India had called #MenToo movement ridiculous. She further said,

"You know, I can’t help but laugh when I hear such ridiculous things such as #mentoo and it makes me angry that women in positions of public domain and influence will still stoop to massage the male ego to find their acceptance."

References

{{Weinstein effect Internet activism 2019 in Internet culture Violence against men in Asia False allegations of sex crimes MeToo movement