New Delhi, Oct 12: Despite the fact the government is firmly behind minister of state for external affairs M J Akbar at least for the moment, Union women and child development ministry is mulling if it can take complains available on social media into cognizance. The government is already on the defensive on the issue of MeToo campaign doing rounds in the country.
Sources said that the ministry has already sought view of legal on this issue if women taking up this matter under this campaign in any way could be provided with legal assistance.
Union women and child development ministry also paid attention to statements, opinions and articles of lawyers on this issue who have said that narrating any story of sexual exploitation on social media does not give it a legal validity or these issue will fail to stand in the court of law in the absence of proper evidence. Women and child development ministry is supporting MeToo campaign as the minister Maneka Gandhi praised such women who expressed their agony of sexual exploitation through this campaign.
So the ministry wants women instead of getting discouraged from these articles and write ups must express their agony with full confidence. This is the reason that Union women and child development ministry send this message to all social workers and legal expert in touch with the ministry that they must encourage such women who want to expose the exploitation that was done to them years ago.
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Sources said that many women have sent sealed envelope with their complain to Union women and child development minister with the request not to disclose their identity. When the opinion of the officials of the ministry was sought then they did not show any interest on the matter. The MeToo campaign has put the government in quandary for many reasons one of the reasons being that everyday something new is being disclosed and many such names are coming forward whom the government had works as professionals.