#MeToo is a painful but necessary reminder of how infiltrated our lives have become by sexual assault and sexual harassment. This social media trend is an important way to bring attention to a serious issue. However, it is also a problem that should not be this prevalent in our society.
Alyssa Milano, an actress and activist, started the movement after a friend of hers suggested women who had been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote the phrase “me too” to give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.
The movement was predominantly designed to bring attention to the commonality of women facing sexual harassment and assault on a daily basis. Especially in the wake of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein and his rampant harassment and assaults of women, it shows how often women face this in their daily lives and how the workplace is no exception. As the movement has grown, however, men too have been sharing their stories, displaying how this is not a single-gender issue.
This epidemic is reaching people in a magnitude that is often not admitted. Sexual harassment and assault has been an issue that often is accompanied by a stigma. #MeToo is an example of men and women everywhere standing up to say that enough is enough. People are beginning to see that sexual assault and harassment is an issue that not only is not going away but instead is growing tenfold, as perpetrators are led to believe that they have the power to get away with it and avoid any repercussions for their actions.
Sexual assault is not an issue that will go away in a night, and the only hope of working toward eradicating this is for people to speak out, share their stories and show just how serious of an issue this is.
#MeToo is trending worldwide, exposing not only the issue in the U.S. but also how prevalent this is everywhere. We see time and time again complaints about sexual harassment and assault being ignored and brushed under the rug. Women who spoke out early against Weinstein were ignored by the board. With the recent uncovering of Nxivm, a company who reportedly branded women, there were more examples of women pleading with law enforcement to look into the disconcerting practices of the group.
The New York Times article regarding Nxivm says, “Some former followers have become frightened by Raniere’s growing power.” In the face of fear, when people speak out about these issues they should be taken seriously. Perhaps, if people who spoke out were believed the first time, there would not be so many people sharing #MeToo right now and not as many people would be subjected to this abuse so often in their lives.
