"When that took place, the entire unit had protected me, but no one warned him of serious consequences of repeating such obnoxious behavior…. It (the #metoo movement) will make men realize that women are not going to suffer silently" are the words of a Bollywood actress, Deepika Amin in support of the #MeToo movement. But one may ask the question, 'Are all the cases registered under the #MeToo movement genuine?' In an answer to this question, another movement has been started around the globe in support of those innocent men who have been falsely accused, i.e., the #MenToo movement. In a tweet by Steven Crowder, it has been quoted that, "The default setting in our society is that men are the abusers and women are the victims. And for men, it's guilty until proven innocent. Both sides of the story need to be heard before believing one side over the other and casting judgment." We all know that reality is always hard to accept. And in this scenario, the reality is that the #MenToo movement is still unknown to, more or less, half of the population.

We live in a very controversial society. Today, every individual has different opinions to give and it is becoming hard to find two persons sharing the same opinions. In the current situation, both men and women can be both victims and abusers. If a person claims that 'all men are the same' or 'all women are the same' then no one in this world can be more foolish than that person. One cannot state that all women are victims and all men are abusers. In situations like this, it is very important to know about both movements from depth.

The #MeToo movement is a social movement that stands against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture. This term was first used by Tarana Burke, on a social media platform, MySpace, in 2006. It became an independent hashtag and started to go viral in and after 2017. According to Burke, this movement has grown to such a height that it includes both men and women of all colors and ages, as it supported the marginalized people in marginalized communities. But at some point in its journey, it began to be dominated by the female population. Nowadays this hashtag is being used by women to share their stories of being an abuse survivors all over social media. The positive side of this movement was that it became a voice and motivation for those women who were still victims and it also encouraged them to come out of their shells and take a stand and share their stories. It provided support to the victims to know that they are not alone in this. Many renowned celebrities and personalities also came forward and shared their stories about being abused and harassed at their respective workplaces. As said by an American actress, Alyssa Milano, "If all women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me Too' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem." This was about the world. The manifestation of the #MeToo movement began in late 2018 in Indian societies, the roots of which spread to include the government, the media, and Bollywood. In October 2018, Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta accused one of the legendary actors of Bollywood, Nana Patekar, of sexual harassment. From then on, the #MeToo movement faced a hike in this south-Asian country. According to #MeTooIndia, a total of 54% hike in sexual harassment at workplaces has been reported between the span of 2014 to 2017. Every woman in this country has been through 'cat-calling', 'intense staring', or 'inappropriately touched in crowded places (like buses, trains, marketplaces, workplaces)'. These incidents take place for a very short period but it leaves a scar permanently on the woman's mind. Not everyone is courageous enough to file a complaint against it. In some rare cases, it has been seen that the savior becomes the monster. Talking about the database, as per a website it has been recorded that around 19M people tweeted their stories using #MeToo by the end of 2018 only. If we take a look at the current database then we would be in a state of astonishment. Moreover, many countries have created their hashtags by adding their country's name after the hashtag, i.e., #MeTooIndia, #MeTooChina etcetera. One most important things about this #MeToo movement is that it is no more limited to sexual assault, harassment, or rape. It has grown to such an extent that it now speaks on behalf of all the discrimination that women go through in their entire lifetime. So is there nothing we can do as a woman citizens of India? The Indian Penal Code (IPC) has various laws to deal with these kinds of situations. Cases of sexual harassment including physical contact, showing pornography to a woman against her will, unwelcomed and explicit sexual overturns, demands or requests for sexual favors, and making sexually intended comments are registered under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 'Insult to the modesty of women' which includes harassment at the workplace is registered under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This category is created by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB). Looking into an old database of NCRB, it can be noted that 665 harassment cases were registered in 2016 which is around 20% less than the 833 cases registered in 2015 and around 26% more than the 526 cases registered in 2014. Moreover, the Indian government takes cases of children (either boy or girl child) being harassed and deals the cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. Hence, from now on every single woman and child has the right to stand against the crimes they face.

In the beginning of the year 2022, a case of domestic violence got the attention of millions of people around the globe. The case involved two of the leading Hollywood celebrities, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. The final verdict of the case was granted in favor of Johnny Depp and simultaneously, Amber Heard was charged with certain penalties. This is where the cloud of mystery began arising. This case divided the netizens into groups of two. One part believed that injustice was served to Amber Heard whereas the other part believed that men are not always guilty and a beautiful face may have a cruel soul. From here on another forgotten hashtag came into the limelight. It started going viral using which men started sharing the injustice that they had to suffer from in their lifetime. It is the #MenToo movement.

The #MenToo social movement was started in India to stand up against false sexual harassment allegations. A Bangalore-based NGO, Children's Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), started the movement in October of 2018 in response to the #MeToo movement. The widespread of this movement was after Pooja Bedi's (Bollywood actress) and Barkha Trehan's (founder of Purush Aayog) joint appeal to bring in gender-neutral laws and investigation into the justice system of the country. On the 5th of May, 2019 actor Karan Oberoi was taken into custody as his ex-girlfriend filed a sexual harassment complaint against him. This led Pooja Bedi and Barkha Trehan to take action against it. A bandmate of Karan Oberoi, Sherrin Varghese gave a statement, "I support my bandmate Karan Oberoi. It's not about men or women, male or female. It's about equality for all genders." During the lockdown, a few cases of injustice against men went viral all over social media. A girl named Priyadarshini Yadav (also known as 'The Lucknow Girl') allegedly hit a cab driver, Saadat Ali Siddiqui, over 20 times and caused damage to his cellphone and the car claiming that she was about to get run over by the driver. But after the captured footage of the incident by a nearby CCTV camera went viral, the tables turned. Netizens accused the girl of putting false allegations about the innocent man and they demanded her arrest. Putting false allegations against someone led her to a ruptured reputation and career as she received hatred in place of sympathy from across the country. Another similar incident was of an Instagram model, Hitesha Chandranee who falsely framed a Zomato delivery man, Kamaraj, for hitting just after a heated argument over delayed food delivery. After considering the cases from both parties and collecting necessary evidence, the police registered an FIR against Hitesha and she has been charged with wrongful restraint, intentional insult, assault, and criminal intimidation. A false accusation can leave a deep scar on the mental health and social health of a person. If a woman faces a false accusation then she receives an unbelievable amount of sympathy but when a man is falsely accused he receives hatred an unbelievable amount of. The reason for 'false accusation' is one of the leading causes behind an ordinary man's suicide. There are three sections in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) under which the maximum number of crimes against women are registered. They are Section 498A dealing with domestic violence, Section 375 dealing with rape cases, and Section 354 dealing with outraging modesty. Under Section 498A of IPC, which deals with the punishment for domestic violence, if a woman claims that she is being mentally or physically tortured by her husband or his relatives then she can get them arrested for 3 years. Moreover, the woman does not need to provide any evidence or proof whatsoever. Quite shocking! According to a report it can be noted that in the year 2016, 6745 cases registered under IPC 498A were considered false. Similarly, 2958 cases were mere mistakes of facts. And 8308 cases were true but lacked evidence. In the year 2014, a huge number of cases registered under Section 125 (Order for maintenance of wives, children, and parents) were false. According to a report by the Delhi Commission of Women it was stated that out of all the rape cases filed between the period of April 2013 to July 2014, 53.2% were cases of false accusation. People still claim that the current society is male-dominated. But when it comes to law and justice, it is always gender-based, men hardly get the opportunity to take a stand for themselves. They need to provide proof for pleading not guilty. And ironically, people still believe that it's a male-dominated country. This was only about the movement in India. But cases of false accusation against men is one of the 'worldwide' burning issues. Many men are living amongst us who are still being shamed by society for something that they didn't commit. After all, it is society's sole job to make a person's already troubled life more troubled.

In a society like the current one, it is very important to learn the whole story before passing on any kind of judgment. The government should make it mandatory to provide genuine and valid proof in case of an accusation. And since it has become very easy to manipulate evidence, cross-verification should be a mandate. What if someone asks, "Which movement is more important?" or "Which movement should we support?" The answer is 'Both'. In a society, it is important to ensure the safety of a person irrespective of gender. A false accusation is no less than a heinous act and it should be treated as a punishable offense. In a time where a crime is not gender-biased then why should justice be gender-biased? The justice system of a country is trusted by almost every citizen in the country. To maintain this bond the justice system should bring in some changes, and the first and foremost change is to be neutral, i.e., they should not be gender biased. According to many netizens, both movements should come together to take a strong stand on behalf of the victims no matter what gender they are. Being a fake feminist and framing a guy just for self-satisfaction can lead to nothing. Moreover, amongst all these fake accusations, the real victims can easily be mistaken for a false ones. Hence, it is better to support each other and stop blaming each other to create a happy and injustice-free society.

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