A woman from Delhi took to social media to share how she faced “sexual harassment” by a LinkedIn connection. The woman, who is a mother of two, said that despite having all the “privileges” one can count on, she feels “utterly helpless”. Nishtha Gautam shared her ordeal in detail on X (formerly known as Twitter) with a trigger warning. It has since sparked a debate about how the Microsoft-owned professional networking platform has turned into a space where such inappropriate behaviour persists.
“Details of my personal experience with sexual harassment on LinkedIn,” wrote Gautam on X, adding how “one polite response to a ‘thank you for adding me’ message in May” started it all.
LONG Trigger Warning: Details of my personal experience with sexual harassment on LinkedIn.Predictably, this started innocuously with a LinkedIn connection request from a man named Tulsi Kumar and my ONE polite response to a “thank you for adding me” message in May. pic.twitter.com/Ni4MB5atEP— Nishtha Gautam (@TedhiLakeer) September 10, 2024
She shared that she initially received a lot of “unsolicited DMs on LinkedIn” from one user named Tulsi Kumar related to work. However, the tone of the messages quickly shifted, and one of his messages read, “You look so stunning & beautiful in grey hairs ma’am ji, looks very unique,”
Gautam claimed to have ignored these messages until September 10, when she woke up to what she described as “age-old sexually charged bullshit”. “This man also found my Instagram earlier yesterday and left likes and comments there using his company ID. I’ve had a policy of keeping my social accounts open because that’s who I am,” she further added.
3. And on the morning of 10 September, I woke up to this age old sexually charged bullshit. This man also found my Instagram earlier yesterday and left likes and comments there using his company id. I’ve had a policy of keeping my social accounts open because that’s who I am.— Nishtha Gautam (@TedhiLakeer) September 10, 2024
The 39-year-old expressed, “What’s even more frustrating—almost criminal—however, is that LinkedIn doesn’t even give an option for reporting harassment on its platform when you proceed to block and report someone. The reportage mechanism doesn’t even recognise sexual harassment. See screenshot.”
“I have all the privileges that you can count—caste, class, religion, skin colour, education, everything. Yet, I’m utterly helpless, and I don’t know when this will stop. If it ever stops!” the author and academic wrote on the microblogging platform.
5. I’ll be 39 in exactly ten days. I’m a mother of two daughters—21 and 15. I have all the privileges that you can count—caste, class, religion, skin colour, education, everything. Yet, I’m utterly helpless, and I don’t know when this will stop. If it ever stops!
— Nishtha Gautam (@TedhiLakeer) September 10, 2024
In her thread, she shared screenshots of the DMs she received from Kumar. One of the messages read, “Don’t do drama. Let me go and do what I wish,” while another reads, “You’re my crazy b***h who just won’t let me f**k you.”
After Gautam shared her ordeal on social media, people flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts. An X user said, “Damn, do you file a police complaint? A cyber complaint is needed here I feel….”
Gautam replied to this and wrote, “I’ve been trying to. The portal is glitching. When I press ‘submit’, it wipes out everything and takes me back to the home page. Login is glitching, too. Full waste of time.”
“Woman safety is a joke in India,” expressed another.
A third posted, “They are everywhere! Crazy!”
“My 43-year-old mother was harassed by a drunk man who she slapped before coming home. My father was in the army and my elder brother, 21 away from work couldn’t help, so I took action. Despite initial police inaction, we got CCTV footage, traced the man, and now he’s been arrested,” shared yet another.
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