In 2021, the LDF returned to power for a second term for the first time in the last four decades. Women voters who outnumbered men in all constituencies played a major role in this historical electoral win. Welfare programs during the floods and the pandemic made the LDF government a reliable and trusted partner among women voters during the crisis. The election manifesto also promised many women-friendly schemes including pensions for homemakers, smart kitchens and age relaxation for mothers appearing for government job examinations among others. But behind the veneer of women-friendly welfare policies of Pinarayi 1.0 government was the realpolitik, which was soon exposed when K K Shailaja, the prominent woman face, who recorded the highest margin of victory, was dropped from the new cabinet. In many ways, this decision symbolised the limit of ‘women empowerment’ set by the CPI(M)-led government. Women empowerment projects are limited to the poverty eradication framework because such models are best suited for the patriarchal regime.
In recent years, we have witnessed uprisings by various women groups in Kerala. A common thread we can identify in all these movements is the response by the Kerala government which exposed the double standards on women empowerment. At Governance Innovation Labs, we have brought together some of these movements through our ‘art for democracy’ fellowship, to identify the connecting linkages among these movements. From Pompilai Orumai, Penkoot, Haritha and protests by nuns to the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), we have seen the power of women in their fight against gender injustice. In all these movements we see how women were systemically betrayed and failed by the very institutions designed to protect their rights.
Penkoot, a women’s union, was set up by Viji P in 2009 to fight for the rights of women in the workplace. The feminist movement began in SM street, Kozhikode, Kerala, in response to the denial of the right to sit and the right to use toilets during long work hours (12-14 hours) by saleswomen. ‘Irikkal samaram’ (sitting protest) in which women protested by sitting with chairs on their heads was a success and the Kerala state government had to amend the Shop and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Act in July 2018, to ensure that every shop in the state had a toilet and seating facility for its staff along with minimum wage mandate, an eight-hour shift, lunch and tea breaks. Viji’s efforts were categorically ignored by male-dominated unions and leading political parties which boast of women empowerment in election manifestos. We can see similar patterns of harsh ostracisation suffered by women leaders/activists in Pompilai Orumai led by Gomathi Augustine, when thousands of women came together to challenge the unholy nexus between the state, trade unions and plantation management that exploited daily wage workers.
Unlike Penkoot and Pompilai Orumai, the WCC which was set up in response to the brutal sexual assault faced by a leading actress in the Malayalam film industry, chose the diplomacy route to work with the government to eradicate abusive practices in the industry. The WCC trusted the LDF in setting a participatory agenda for the safety and security of women workers but their experience turned out to be one of the biggest betrayals by this government on women’s issues. It’s been more than two years since the submission of the Justice Hema commission report but this government has blatantly refused to take any corrective measures in spite of spending more than Rs 1 crore on the report. In stark contrast, the Maharashtra Women’s commission chief gave an ultimatum to set up mandatory internal committees (ICs) in film industry within various production and media houses without wasting tax money on a futile inquiry commission. Even to this date, the women's commission in Kerala has not taken a similar action in spite of the best practice showcased by its counterpart in Maharashtra. Such incompetency of government institutions in Kerala built to protect the rights of women and children hit a new low with the recent row over illegal adoption of an infant. State agencies have been accused of colluding with influential members of the CPM to facilitate an illegal adoption of a new-born while there was a valid claim to the child by his biological parents.
Similar to the refusal to publish the Hema commission report, the government has kept the inquiry report on the adoption row under wraps with the bizarre excuse of protecting the privacy of the parties involved. While the option of publishing the redacted report exists in case of Hema commission, it defies common sense to withhold the details of a child from his biological parents by stating privacy issues. Governments grossly underestimating the power of citizens to challenge such violation of norms of democracy will only lead to its downfall.
Kerala government turns instances of violence against women to opportunities to unleash its PR machinery rather than take solid actions on ground. Be it the Women’s Wall (Vanitha Mathil) virtue signalling through social media pages, events with film stars in response to increasing crimes against women, TV ads/ songs on awareness creation, optics is paramount for them. It helps them sidetrack real issues like lack of shelter homes for rehabilitating victims.
This inability to address women’s issues stems from the fundamental lack of political will towards gender justice. Even getting the basics right, such as setting up ICs in workplaces and universities, which is already mandated by law, seems to be an impossible feat for the Kerala government. We have witnessed the cost of such policy lapses in the recent incident at the School of Drama, Thrissur, where a student attempted to commit suicide following inaction on her complaint on sexual abuse by a faculty.
Our latest investigative report on the state of Nirbhaya homes in Kerala reveals the shocking cost of policy failures of this government. If the government is not held responsible for such crimes against women through deliberate policy mishaps, it would be at the cost of lives of more young women and girls.
In the wake of #MeToo movement, setting up of the Justice Hema Commission was a defining moment that could have brought out historic changes to a system that facilitates abusers. But what happened is the exact opposite. Instead of holding the abusers accountable, the government chose to protect and facilitate the abusers who were reported by women in cinema by placing enormous trust in the system. Therefore, trusting the government to build solutions to address gender issues is no longer an option. Dragging women to streets to get basic justice has now become the new normal as existing institutions, including judiciary, are failing to deliver gender justice.
A new roadmap towards achieving gender equality must be envisioned. Our institutions must rise to the occasion to deliver gender justice and the media must play its role as an auditor to ensure the checks and balances of these institutions. We must use the lessons learned from each of these movements led by women towards achieving justice. In Anupama’s case we saw academicians across the world coming together to build enough pressure on the government through national and international media against the violation of the fundamental human right of a newborn child and his biological parents. When a leading magazine put the rape accused on its cover, women across Kerala came together in support of the survivor by calling out the magazine. The system is beating us to exhaustion by putting us through a continuous and tiring fight for justice. Women need to outsmart this tactic and rise above it by building alliances across differences and passing on the baton to the most effective partners in each stage of our journey towards achieving gender justice. In Kerala, a strong resistance movement against the empowerment shams is rising and sooner than later these forces will unite towards making gender equality a reality.
(The author is a pro-democracy activist and runs various policy research initiatives at Governance Innovation Labs)