Kavita Krishnan expresses the irritation and anger of many feminists at the attempt to distract attention from the damage Wikileaks has managed to inflict on the powerful, by doubtful charges of sexual harassment against Assange, its architect:
…Certainly, from the perspective of all those women in India who find the most brutal of rapists going free, protected by the police and the state, and their most serious charges of rape trivialized or even suppressed by force, the idea of a man being hunted down by Interpol on charges which are as complex and ambiguous as those in the Assange case is disturbing…. [Full article here]
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 
Wonder what she means by “Assange’s casual flings with female fans may not be very democratic”. What exactly would amount to a “democratic” fling?
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Satish – really? You don’t get at all what democracy can mean in personal relationships? Maybe it’s you the Interpol should be hunting down :)
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I must admit, I am amazed at the delegitimising of these cases filed by these women accusing Assange, by feminists here as well as others such as Naomi Wolf. It is so important for us to de-link the two issues. Because of the magnitude of what wikileaks means, does not mean that we need to disregard an accusation of rape or abuse by women (wherever they may be). I must admit, i don’t see the difficulty in de-linking these issues by us as feminists. We all know of sexist and yet otherwise progressive men. Assange might be one of them. Might not be. But a trial is in order. Yes, the bizarre-ness of the interpol caring a damn about rape accusations is apparent and we know that this is being used as an excuse to catch him and yes clinton etc should also be chased that way. But we cannot push this argument so far that we declare the cases filed by these women or the trial that followed as being irrelevant. It should be made irrelevant to the wikileaks related case, but it can’t be disregarded entirely.
And as always a simplistic comparison of women who live in different contexts cannot be used as an explanation for this disregard.
With all due respect to my feminist comrades, I think we need to expect better reasoning, commitment to practices within law that we have in the past and continue to struggle for (this is not without critique ofcourse but critique cannot be conflated with disregard). We cannot drop this analysis and framework because it is easier for us to stand by this man than have a love-(maybe hate) relationship with him just like many of us often have or could have with many of our sexist male and female colleagues in movement spaces.
The challenge for feminism lies in negotiating a stand that is firm and nuanced. We need to acknowledge that wikileaks and much of the language used by many a internet revolutionaries is often male, casually misogynist (in moments). While we critique this, we can still stand by them in their quest to expose ‘the empire(s) and its secrets’ so to speak. This wouldn’t be the first time we would be doing such a thing. (Remember that ole book “We were making history” ?) Feminist techies and others looking more seriously at this space as one of protest and dissent are and will continue to tow this line and struggle with their colleagues within feminist spaces as well as those often male-progressive, internet space. Our strength may lay in this negotiation that linear arguements and either-or stands.
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Ponni, I dont read Kavita or Naomi Wolf as “delegitimizing” the cases of sexual harassment against Assange at all, but questioning the magnitude of his punishment – solitary confinement, refusal of bail, Interpol hunt etc.
Without speaking for other feminists, let me state my case. As I understand it, in the Swedish warrant for Assange’s arrest, both of his accusers said that they had separate consensual sexual encounters with Assange that became nonconsensual after he refused to use a condom or replace a broken one. Assange should be punished in accordance with Swedish law for non-consensual sex within an initially consensual encounter (not even recognized as a crime in the US where the clamour is highest – Sarah Palin urged the US administration to “Hunt down the WikiLeaks chief like the Taliban”. Prominent US politician Mike Huckabee called for his execution on his Fox News program last November, and Fox News commentator Bob Beckel, referring to Assange, publicly called for people to “illegally shoot the son of a bitch”.)
Assange is on trial for extradition to Sweden, and in the meanwhile is in a high security prison in Britain, denied bail. There are fears that if extradited to Sweden, he may be further extradited by a compliant Sweden to the US, and even if fears of his being sent to Guantanamo are unwarranted, it is clear that Assange would not be safe in a US prison.
The question that some feminists are raising then, is not – is he really guilty of sexual harassment? But rather, is the international hunt for him and the punishment he is currently undergoing, commensurate with the crime?
Our feminism requires us to raise feminist issues within every space, but also to recognize when feminist struggles are sought to be appropriated by the most patriarchal of forces. We need to insist that feminist battles be fought by feminists, not by those using feminism towards anti-feminist ends.
Assange should be punished according to Swedish laws on sexual harassment, but feminist responsibility is equally great to ensure that he is not extradited by Sweden to the US, nor punished beyond the requirements of his crime.
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nivvi, agree with you entirely. The tone however has not clarified to me that the question is of the degree of the chase and the punishment which is of course incommensurate by any stretch of imagination. But we need to say so in no uncertain terms as there is a lot of delegitimising of these cases going on in different quarters, often progressive ones as well. Anyway, if its about the magnitude of punishment, then I have no difference.
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This is so funny!!…i mean the women who accuse Julian Assange of Rape started crying rape only after he refused to submit himself for HIV testing..they were fine with their sexual relationship with him and had problems only when he refused to go for the HIV test they asked him to…subsequently they filed the cases of rape..choosing to file the cases days afterwards…i am sure they were coerced into this by the many governments whose secrets Assange exposed to have some reason to hold him and should not be linked to the larger issue of rape and women affected by rape in India..seems like feminists in this country are running out of examples to foster their campaigns.get a life people
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Vivek,
Either you are as obnoxiously sexist as you sound here, or you really dont get it. If the former, no feminist gives a damn what you think, and good luck to those who enter into intimate relationships with you.
On the off chance that it is the latter, here goes: “Consent” is not some easily definable thing that can be assumed once and for all. One can give consent for some kinds of sexual activity and not want others; one can give consent to a sexual relationship and then not want to have sex at some point in that relationship; one can give consent to sex with a condom, and not want sex without; one can insist that within a consensual sexual relationship if the condom broke, both parties should undergo HIV testing for the safety of both partners. These notions of consent are not “legal” everywhere, especially in India, fortunately for Indian men. As it happens, in Sweden, all of the above are legal definitions of sexual harassment.
As for ‘choosing to file the cases days afterwards’ – it is absolutely normal to hold on for a bit, to be angry but not know what to do, to wonder if what has happened to you is something you have no right to be angry about; you talk to others, you think about it, and finally you take the decision to go to the police. I dont think even feminists like Naomi Wolf, who has been most scathing about the charges on Assange, are suggesting that the women who complained have “been coerced into it by governments”. Yes, the case has been taken up with alacrity by governments, but that is another matter.
As for feminists in India running out of issues – thanks to men like you, Vivek, we’re okay on that front. Plenty issues, plenty.
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