Using economics and tech to ‘out’ #MeToo predators

Wait, what?

Outlandish though it may sound, there are economic models and technological applications that can help expose serial sexual predators and establish a cast-iron legal case against them.

Aren’t victims’ testimonies enough?

Victims’ testimonies are the most important element in this. But, as has happened with journalist Priya Ramani, who first ‘outed’ Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar as an alleged sexual harasser — and now faces a criminal defamation case — establishing a legal case against abusers is about more than just naming and shaming them.

So, what economic models are these?

We’ll get to that in a bit. First, it helps to understand the problems in lining up credible charges of sexual harassment or sexual assault. For one thing, victims are often afraid to be the first to publicly level a charge against an established figure.

Why is that so?

As legal scholars Ian Ayers and Cait Unkovic noted in a seminal 2012 research paper titled ‘Information Escrows’, in the Michigan Law Review , “A victim of abuse is reluctant to bring the first claim, in part because the accused routinely responds by trying to impeach the credibility of the accuser. This has serious consequences.

Such as?

In a “he said, she said” situation, an uncorroborated accusation is unlikely to prevail, note Ayers and Unkovic. There may be, as in Akbar’s case, many others who have made similar charges, but typically the ‘first mover’ does not know that others will step up. There’s a risk in being the ‘first mover’, and consequently, such allegations of sexual assault go unreported. And even when there are other similar charges, they are liable to be dismissed as “copycat complaints”.

So, what’s the way out?

That’s where economics — specifically, game theory — comes in. Ayers and Unkovic commend the use of an “information escrow” (for instance, in a workplace or on a college campus). As with financial escrow accounts, these are trusted intermediaries to whom a victim can confidentially share an allegation of abuse along with evidence, including a real-time affidavit; the information will be forwarded to authorities only if, say, there are more such allegations against the same perpetrator.

How does this help?

An escrowed allegation has more evidentiary value; in circumstances such as now, when the allegations relate to 30 years or more, this lends them greater authenticity. An escrow also mitigates the first-mover ‘disadvantage’: a victim will feel reassured that she will not be singled out for any adversarial reaction, since her escrowed allegation will be released only if there are more such. And since an accuser does not know at the time of making an escrowed allegation whether she is the first or the second accuser, it reduces the risk of ‘copycat allegations’.

How is this different from reporting to HR?

An “allegation escrow” need not be human; it could be a tech-based intermediary, such as an app.

Are there any such?

There are: in the US, Callisto, a non-profit organisation, has developed web-based platforms for college campuses — Callisto Campus and Callisto Expansion — which work as “allegation escrows”. They let victims save time-stamped written records of a sexual assault, which are reported only if another victim names the same perpetrator.

What impact have they had?

Callisto claims “repeat offender detection” has increased along with a higher proportion of reporting of assaults. A “survivor-centric” reporting platform such as this, which protects confidentiality, commends itself.

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