Me TOO!!

What about you?

Me too. Two simple but strong words. They shook the world and

brought a huge extent of sexual harassment into the open. Since its

very origins, the impacts of the movement have been far-reaching. The

expression “Me too” first came out in 2006 when the activist Tarana

Burke, in an effort to create solidarity with an among victims of sexual

abuse began using it. The hashtag #MeToo has freed the women's

speech. Tens of thousands of comments left on social networks are

digital traces of the sexism suffered. However, if women talk more about

it, we can also point out that their words are listened to more. What

makes it also powerful is not just the fact that they talk about it, but they

give details of what happen, they show videos and they are not afraid to

give the names of their abusers. #MeToo symbolizes the voice of women

breaking the wall of silence that protected the long tabooed sexual

abusers. Through social media, the hashtag spread the movement all

over the world inciting women of all backgrounds to share their stories of

sexual harassment. Social networks have a real capacity to gather

people around common ideologies but also to denounce, denounce

inequalities, injustices, violence. Although made visible by celebrities, it

remained deeply rooted in movements to help all sexual assault

survivors, no matter their ages, places or backgrounds. Group chats on

social media allow survivors of sexual harassment to find out that they

aren’t alone anymore, and that is something they can talk about.

Beyond the headlines, data shows the far-reaching impacts of the

#MeToo movement. Hundreds of women and men have filed harassment

complaints, called hotlines and come forward with their own #MeToo

stories. #MeToo has been well received by the vast majority of men:

many of them have thought about what they might have say or do in the

past: "Am I sure that when I said such and such a thing, I didn't hurt? Did

I not go too far at that moment? Did she really agree?". And that's

probably what makes it so strong.

An Ipsos survey showed that 66% of them thought that the hashtags: #Balancetonporc ; and #Metoo were a good thing. Later on, another poll showed even greater enthusiasm:

90% think that the echo given to the Weinstein affair is legitimate, 87%

"necessary" ; even if some consider it "excessive". By acting on the

victims, by increasing the number of testimonies, the hashtag makes it

possible to insist on a shift: gradually, the weight of shame and isolation

is fading away! By acting on the witnesses, by making them responsible,

it tells the perpetrators: "you are being watched". It all started on social

media and now women aren’t scared to go protest in the street. From

Berlin to New York City, women gather by thousands to share their story,

to tell the world “It is not possible to continue pretending nothing happened!”.

Survivors need more than just being heard; they need justice. Justice for them, for every survivors of sexual harassment, for those who didn’t survive and for the upcoming ones. So, it won’t happen again. People don’t just abuse a simple body but a full-fledged person. It takes 50 seconds for an abuser to do the wrong, but 50 years for survivors to rebuilt afterwards. Wanted justice is tough but things are starting little by little to change.

On October 5, 2017, King Harvey Weinstein fell noisily from his throne and

Hollywood lost its nobility. Convicted of sexual assault and rape, the

former producer was sentenced on the 11th of March 2020 to 23 years in

prison.

So, let’s keep fighting to give a better chance to the future

generations not to give up on the pretext that nothing will change! The

denunciation of harassment and street violence suffered by women is,

unfortunately, a valuable gateway to understanding other movement.

Link to the Me too Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/MeTooMVMT/?epa=SEARCH_BOX By Emma Lunte