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#MeToo is a
social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and ma ...
against
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
,
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fr ...
, and
rape culture Rape culture is a setting, studied by several sociological theories, in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, slut-s ...
, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
in 2006, on Myspace, by
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
survivor and activist
Tarana Burke Tarana Burke (born September 12, 1973) is an American activist from The Bronx, New York, who started the MeToo movement. In 2006, Burke began using MeToo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. Over a decade lat ...
. Harvard University published a case study on Burke, called "Leading with Empathy: Tarana Burke and the Making of the Me Too Movement" (2020). The
hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
''#MeToo'' was used starting in 2017 as a way to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem. The purpose of "Me Too", as initially voiced by Burke as well as those who later adopted the tactic, is to empower sexually assaulted people (especially young and vulnerable women of color) through empathy, solidarity, and strength in numbers, by visibly demonstrating how many have experienced sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. Following the exposure of numerous sexual-abuse allegations against film producer
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
in October 2017, the movement began to spread virally as a
hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
on social media. On October 16, 2017, American actress Alyssa Milano posted on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, "If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me too' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem," saying that she got the idea from a friend. A number of high-profile posts and responses from American celebrities
Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...
, Ashley Judd,
Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. She appeared in ''Time''s 100 most influential people ...
, and Uma Thurman, among others, soon followed. Widespread media coverage and discussion of sexual harassment, particularly in Hollywood, led to high-profile terminations from positions held, as well as criticism and backlash. After millions of people started using the phrase and hashtag in this manner in English, the expression began to spread to dozens of other languages. The scope has become somewhat broader with this expansion, however, and Burke has more recently referred to it as an international movement for justice for marginalized people. After the hashtag #MeToo went viral in late 2017, Facebook reported that almost half of its American users were friends with someone who said they had been sexually assaulted or harassed.


Purpose

The original purpose of "Me Too" as used by Tarana Burke in 2006 was to empower women through empathy, especially young and vulnerable women. In October 2017, Alyssa Milano encouraged using the phrase as a hashtag to help reveal the extent of problems with sexual harassment and assault by showing how many people have experienced these events themselves. It therefore encourages women to speak up about their abuses, knowing that they are not alone. After millions of people started using the phrase, and it spread to dozens of other languages, the purpose changed and expanded, and as a result, it has come to mean different things to different people. Tarana Burke accepts the title of "leader" of the movement, but has stated that she considers herself more of a "worker." Burke has stated that this movement has grown to include both men and women of all colors and ages, as it continues to support marginalized people in marginalized communities. There have also been movements by men aimed at changing the culture through personal reflection and future action, including #IDidThat, #IHave, and #IWill.


Awareness and empathy

Analyses of the movement often point to the prevalence of sexual violence, which has been estimated by the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
to affect one-third of all women worldwide. A 2017 poll by
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...
and ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' also found that 54% of American women report receiving "unwanted and inappropriate" sexual advances with 95% saying that such behavior usually goes unpunished. Others state that #MeToo underscores the need for men to intervene when they witness demeaning behavior. Burke said that #MeToo declares sexual violence sufferers are not alone and should not be ashamed. Burke says sexual violence is usually caused by someone the woman knows, so people should be educated from a young age that they have the right to say no to sexual contact from any person, even after repeated solicitations from an authority or spouse, and to report predatory behavior. Burke advises men to talk to each other about consent, call out demeaning behavior when they see it and try to listen to victims when they tell their stories. Alyssa Milano said that #MeToo has helped society understand the "magnitude of the problem" and that, "it's a standing in solidarity to all those who have been hurt." She stated that the success of #MeToo will require men to take a stand against behavior that objectifies women.


Policies and laws

Burke has stated the current purpose of the movement is to give people the resources to have access to healing, and to advocate for changes to laws and policies. Burke has highlighted goals such as processing all untested rape kits, re-examining local school policies, improving the vetting of teachers, and updating sexual harassment policies. She has called for all professionals who work with children to be
fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...
ed and subjected to a
background check A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and oth ...
before being cleared to start work. She advocates for sex education that teaches kids to report predatory behavior immediately. Burke supports the #MeToo bill in the
US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
, which would remove the requirement that staffers of the federal government go through months of "cooling off" before being allowed to file a complaint against a Congressperson. Milano stated in 2017 that a priority for #MeToo is changing the laws surrounding sexual harassment and assault, for example instituting protocols that allow sufferers in all industries to file complaints without retaliation. She supported legislation making it difficult for publicly traded companies to hide cover-up payments from their stockholders and would like to make it illegal for employers to require new workers to sign
non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wis ...
s as a condition of employment. Gender analysts such as
Anna North Anna North is a writer, editor, and reporter who is currently a senior reporter at '' Vox'' specializing in covering gender-related issues. Life Anna North grew up in Los Angeles, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. Before entering wri ...
have stated that #MeToo should be addressed as a labor issue due to the economic disadvantages to reporting harassment. North suggested combating underlying power imbalances in some workplaces, for example by raising the tipped minimum wage, and embracing innovations like the "portable panic buttons" mandated for hotel employees in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
. Others have suggested that barriers to employment must be removed, such as the job requirement by some employers to sign non-disclosure agreements or other agreements that prevent an employee from talking about their employment publicly, or taking disputes (including sexual harassment claims) to arbitration rather than to legal proceedings. It's been suggested that legislation should be passed that bans these types of mandatory pre-employment agreements. Some policy-based changes that have been suggested include increasing managerial oversight; creating clear internal reporting mechanisms; more effective and proactive disciplinary measures; creating a culture that encourages employees to be open about serious problems; imposing financial penalties for companies that allow workers to remain in their position when they have repeatedly sexually harassed others; and forcing companies to pay huge fines or lose tax breaks if they decide to retain workers who are sexual harassers.


Media coverage

In the coverage of #MeToo, there has been widespread discussion about the best ways to stop sexual harassment and abuse - for those currently being victimized at work, as well as those who are seeking justice for past abuse and trying to find ways to end what they see as a widespread culture of abuse. There is general agreement that a lack of effective reporting options is a major factor that drives unchecked sexual misconduct in the workplace. False reports of sexual assault are very rare, but when they happen, they are put in the spotlight for the public to see. This can give the false impression that most reported sexual assaults are false. However, false reports of sexual assault account for only 2% to 10% of all reports. These figures do not take into account that the majority of victims do not report when they are assaulted or harassed. Misconceptions about false reports are one of the reasons why women are scared to report their experiences with sexual assault - because they are afraid that no one will believe them, that in the process they will have embarrassed and humiliated themselves, in addition to opening themselves up to retribution from the assailants. In France, a person who makes a sexual harassment complaint at work is reprimanded or fired 40% of the time, while the accused person is typically not investigated or punished. In the United States, a 2016 report from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that although 25–85% of women say they experience sexual harassment at work, few ever report the incidents, most commonly due to fear of reprisal. There is evidence that in Japan, as few as 4% of rape victims report the crime, and the charges are dropped about half the time. There is a discussion on the best ways to handle whisper networks, or private lists of "people to avoid" that are shared unofficially in nearly every major institution or industry where sexual harassment is common due to power imbalances, including government, media, news, and academia. These lists have the stated purpose of warning other workers in the industry and are shared from person-to-person, on forums, in private social media groups, and via
spreadsheet A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in ...
s. However, it has been argued that these lists can become "weaponized" and be used to spread unsubstantiated gossip — an opinion which has been discussed widely in the media. Defenders say the lists provide a way to warn other vulnerable people in the industry if worried about serious retribution from the abusers, especially if complaints have already been ignored. They say the lists help victims identify each other so they can speak out together and find safety in numbers. Sometimes these lists are kept for other reasons. For example, a spreadsheet from the United Kingdom called "High Libido MPs" and dubbed "the spreadsheet of shame" was created by a group of male and female Parliamentary researchers, and contained a list of allegations against nearly 40
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
MPs in the
British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
. It is also rumored that party whips (who are in charge of getting members of Parliament to commit to votes) maintain a "black book" that contains allegations against several lawmakers that can be used for
blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
. When it is claimed a well-known person's sexual misconduct was an "open secret", these lists are often the source. In the wake of #MeToo, several private whisper network lists have been leaked to the public. In
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, a student gave her friends a list containing names of professors and academics in the Indian university system to be avoided, which later went viral after it was posted on social media. In response to criticism in the media, the authors defended themselves by saying they were only trying to warn their friends, had confirmed every case, and several victims from the list were poor students who had already been punished or ignored when trying to come forward. Moira Donegan, a New York City-based journalist, privately shared a crowd-sourced list of " Shitty Media Men" to avoid in publishing and journalism. When it was shared outside her private network, Donegan lost her job. Donegan stated it was unfair so few people had access to the list before it went public; for example, very few women of color received access (and therefore protection) from it. She pointed to her " whiteness, health, education, and class" that allowed her to take the risk of sharing the list and getting fired. The main problem with trying to protect more potential victims by publishing whisper networks is determining the best mechanism to verify allegations in a way that is fair to all parties. Some suggestions have included strengthening labor unions in vulnerable industries so workers can report harassment directly to the union instead of to an employer. Another suggestion is to maintain industry hotlines which have the power to trigger third-party investigations. Several apps have been developed which offer various ways to report sexual misconduct, and some can connect victims who have reported the same person. In a recent study about the "me too" movement on YouTube and understanding the different perspectives, there are responses and reactions by people to videos based on the Me-too movement.


Issues with social norms

In the wake of #MeToo, many countries such as the U.S., India, France, China, Japan, Italy and
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
have seen discussion in the media on whether cultural norms need to be changed for sexual harassment to be eradicated. Dr. John Launer of Health Education England stated leaders must be made aware of common "mismatches of perceptions" at work to reduce incidents where one person thinks they are flirting while the other person feels like they're being demeaned or harassed. Reporter
Anna North Anna North is a writer, editor, and reporter who is currently a senior reporter at '' Vox'' specializing in covering gender-related issues. Life Anna North grew up in Los Angeles, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. Before entering wri ...
from '' Vox'' states one way to address #MeToo is teach children the basics of sex. North states the cultural notion that women do not enjoy sex leads men "to believe that a lukewarm yes is all they're ever going to get", referring to a 2017 study which found that men who believe women enjoy being forced into sex are "more likely to perceive women as consenting". Alyssa Rosenberg of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' called for society to be careful of overreaching by "being clear about what behavior is criminal, what behavior is legal but intolerable in a workplace, and what private intimate behavior is worthy of condemnation" but not part of the workplace discussion. She says "preserving the nuances" is more inclusive and realistic. Professor Daniel Drezner stated that #MeToo laid the groundwork for two major cultural shifts. One is the acceptance that sexual harassment (not just sexual assault) is unacceptable in the workplace. The other is that when a powerful person is accused of sexual harassment, the reaction should be a presumption that the less powerful accuser is "likely telling the truth, because the risks of going public are great". However, he states society is struggling with the speed at which change is being demanded.


Reform and implementation

Although #MeToo initially focused on adults, the message spread to students in K–12 schools where sexual abuse is common both in person and online. MeTooK12 is a spin-off of #MeToo created in January 2018 by the group Stop Sexual Assault in Schools, founded by Joel Levin and Esther Warkov, aimed at stopping sexual abuse in education from
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
to high school. #MeTooK12 was inspired in part by the removal of certain federal
Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
sexual misconduct guidelines. There is evidence that sexual misconduct in K–12 education is dramatically underreported by both schools and students, because nearly 80% of public schools never report any incidents of harassment. A 2011 survey found 40% of boys and 56% of girls in grades 7–12 reported had experienced negative sexual comments or sexual harassment in their lives. Approximately 5% of K–12 sexual misconduct reports involved 5 or 6-year-old students. #MeTooK12 is meant to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual misconduct towards children in school, and the need for increased training on
Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
policies, as only 18 states require people in education to receive training about what to do when a student or teacher is sexually abused.


Role of men

There has been discussion about what possible roles men may have in the #MeToo movement. It has been noted that 1 in 6 men have experienced sexual abuse of some sort during their lives and often feel unable to talk about it. Creator Tarana Burke and others have asked men to call out bad behavior when they see it, or just spend time quietly listening. Some men have expressed the desire to keep a greater distance from women since #MeToo went viral because they do not fully understand what actions might be considered inappropriate. For the first few months after #MeToo started trending, many men expressed difficulty in participating in the conversation due to fear of negative consequences, citing examples of men who have been treated negatively after sharing their thoughts about #MeToo. Author and former
pick-up artist Pickup artists (PUA), self-identified as dating coaches, the seduction community or the pickup community, is a movement of men (or women) whose goal is seduction and sexual success. The community exists through Internet newsletters and blogs, ma ...
Michael Ellsberg encourages men to reflect on past behavior and examples of questionable sexual behavior, such as the viral story
Cat Person "Cat Person" is a short story by Kristen Roupenian that was first published in December 2017 in '' The New Yorker'' before going viral online. The BBC described the short story as "being shared widely online as social media users discuss how ...
, written from the perspective of a twenty-year-old woman who goes on a date with a much older man and ends up having an unpleasant sexual experience that was consensual but unwanted. Ellsberg has asked men to pledge to ensure women are mutually interested in initiating a sexual encounter and to slow down if there is ever doubt a woman wants to continue. Relationship instructor Kasia Urbaniak said the movement is creating its own crisis around
masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors ...
. "There's a reflective questioning about whether they're going to be next and if they’ve ever hurt a woman. There's a level of anger and frustration. If you’ve been doing something wrong but haven't been told, there's an incredible sense of betrayal and it’ll provoke a backlash. I think silence on both sides is incredibly dangerous." Urbaniak says she would like women to be allies of men and to be curious about their experience. "In that alliance there's a lot more power and possibility than there is in men stepping aside and starting to stew." In August 2018, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' detailed allegations that leading #MeToo figure
Asia Argento Asia Argento (; born Aria Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento; 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress and filmmaker. The daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento, she has had roles in several of her father's features and achieved mainstream success with ...
sexually assaulted actor Jimmy Bennett. The
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
allegedly took place in a California hotel room in 2013 when he was only two months past his 17th birthday and she was 37; the
age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally cla ...
in that state is 18. Bennett said when Argento came out against Harvey Weinstein, it stirred memories of his own experience. He imparted he had sought to resolve the matter privately, and had not spoken out sooner, "because I was ashamed and afraid to be part of the public narrative." In a statement provided to ''The Times'', he said: "I was underage when the event took place, and I tried to seek justice in a way that made sense to me at the time because I was not ready to deal with the ramifications of my story becoming public. At the time I believed there was still a stigma to being in the situation as a
male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...
in our society. I didn't think that people would understand the event that took place from the eyes of a teenage boy." Bennett said he would like to "move past this event in my life," adding, "today I choose to move forward, no longer in silence." Argento, who quietly arranged a $380,000 nondisclosure settlement with Bennett in the months following her revelations regarding Weinstein, has denied the allegations. Rose McGowan initially expressed support for Argento and implored others to show restraint, tweeting, "None of us know the truth of the situation and I'm sure more will be revealed. Be gentle." As a vocal advocate of the Me Too movement, McGowan faced criticism on social media for her comments, which conflicted with the movement's message of believing survivors. MeToo founder Tarana Burke responded to the Asia Argento report, stating "I’ve said repeatedly that the #metooMVMT is for all of us, including these brave young men who are now coming forward. Sexual violence is about power and privilege. That doesn't change if the perpetrator is your favorite actress, activist or professor of any gender."


Timeline


2006 (Tarana Burke)

Tarana Burke Tarana Burke (born September 12, 1973) is an American activist from The Bronx, New York, who started the MeToo movement. In 2006, Burke began using MeToo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. Over a decade lat ...
, a social activist and community organizer, began using the phrase "Me Too" in 2006, on the Myspace social network to promote "empowerment through empathy" among women of color who have been sexually abused. She was born in Bronx, NY on September 12, 1973. Growing up, she lived in poverty in a low-income family. She was raped and sexually assaulted, both as a child and a teenager. Her mother encouraged her to help others who had been through what she been through. She moved to Selma, Alabama, where she gave birth to her daughter, Kaia Burke, and raised her as a single parent. Burke, who is creating a documentary titled ''Me Too'', has said she was inspired to use the phrase after being unable to respond to a 13-year-old girl who confided to her that she had been sexually assaulted. Burke said she later wished she had simply told the girl: "Me too".


2015 (Ambra Gutierrez)

In 2015, ''The New York Times'' reported that Weinstein was questioned by police "after a 22-year-old woman accused him of touching her inappropriately." The woman, Italian model
Ambra Gutierrez Ambra Battilana Gutierrez (born 15 May 1992) is a Filipino-Italian model who was a finalist for Miss Italy, and has been featured in '' GQ Italy''. She was formerly Miss Piedmont. She was widely covered by American media for her part in exposing ...
, cooperated with the
New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act i ...
(NYPD) to obtain an audio recording where Weinstein admitted to having inappropriately touched her. As the police investigation progressed and became public, tabloids published negative stories about Gutierrez that portrayed her as an opportunist. American Media, publisher of the ''
National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in t ...
'', allegedly agreed to help suppress the allegations by Gutierrez and Rose McGowan.
Manhattan District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws ( ...
Cyrus Vance Jr. Cyrus Roberts Vance Jr. (born June 14, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the District Attorney of New York County, New York, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney. He was previously a principal partner at the law ...
decided not to file charges against Weinstein, citing insufficient evidence of criminal intent, against the advice of local police who considered the evidence sufficient. The New York district attorney's office and the NYPD blamed each other for failing to bring charges.


2017 (Alyssa Milano)

Following widespread exposure of accusations of predatory behavior by
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
, and her own
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...
post on the subject, on October 15, 2017, actress Alyssa Milano wrote: "If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet.", and reposted the following phrase suggested by Charlotte Clymer: "If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me too.' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem." She encouraged spreading the phrase "Me Too" to attempt to draw attention to sexual assault and harassment. The next day, October 16, 2017, Milano wrote: "I was just made aware of an earlier #MeToo movement, and the origin story is equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring", providing the link to site of Ms. Burke. Milano credits her identification with the Me Too movement to experiencing sexual harassment during a concert when she was 19. Several
hashtags A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-gener ...
related to sharing stories of workplace sexual harassment were used before #MeToo, including #MyHarveyWeinstein, #WhatWereYouWearing (on March 12, 2014, there was a question on Twitter asking "What Were You Wearing When You Were Assaulted?" and responses from people stating what they were wearing; there were posts with the #whatwereyouwearing hashtag as early as of 2010, not related to any kind of sexual harassment or workplace), #SurvivorPrivilege (in June 2014 the #SurvivorPrivilege was about alleged lies of rape survivors to get privileges and denial of that by females, especially by students) and #YouOkSis (on August 2, 2014, there was #YouOkSis about street harassment).


2022 (Johnny Depp and Amber Heard)

After filing for divorce from
Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Awa ...
in May 2016, actress Amber Heard alleged that Depp had abused her physically during their relationship. Depp filed a defamation lawsuit in the UK against ''The Sun'''s publishers over a 2018 article that alleged he was a "wife beater". In December 2018, Heard published an
op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. ...
in ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'', stating that she had spoken up against sexual violence and become a public figure representing domestic abuse. Although she did not explicitly name Depp in the op-ed, he filed a defamation lawsuit against her in Virginia. Depp lost his lawsuit in London's
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...
, after a judge determined that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence had occurred and that Heard's allegations of abuse were "substantially true". In the Virginia trial, Depp's lawyers sought to disprove Heard's allegations before a jury, claiming that she, and not her ex-husband, had been the abuser in the relationship. The Virginia trial was livestreamed, generating enormous public interest. Social media platforms featured substantial support for Depp and criticism of Heard, with videos carrying the
hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
#JusticeForJohnnyDepp attaining over 18 billion views on
TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...
by the trial's conclusion. A consensus view emerged online that Heard was lying, and her testimony was widely ridiculed. Ruling that her op-ed had defamed Depp with
actual malice Actual malice in United States law is a legal requirement imposed upon public officials or public figures when they file suit for libel (defamatory printed communications). Compared to other individuals who are less well known to the general pu ...
, the jury awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages (the latter reduced to $350,000 under Virginia state law) while awarding Heard $2 million in compensatory damages for a counterclaim that Depp's former lawyer had defamed her. During and after the trial, Depp received support from a large number of female celebrities, including
Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...
,
Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991 Additional on October 9, 2016) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television projects of the horror and thriller genres, she has received various accolades, including a Young Arti ...
,
Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut stud ...
,
Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a ...
,
Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...
,
Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad ...
,
Zoe Saldana Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to: *ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for "life" People * Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Zoe'' (film) * ZOE Broadcast ...
, Kelly Osbourne, Vanessa Hudgens,
Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...
, Liv Tyler,
Juliette Lewis Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and alternative rock singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, ...
, and
Ashley Benson Ashley Victoria Benson (born December 18, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is known for her role as Hanna Marin in the teen mystery-drama series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017). Benson has starred in films, including ' ...
. His former partners Winona Ryder,
Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...
, and Vanessa Paradis provided testimony or statements during legal proceedings that Depp had never been violent or abusive to them. In a statement on the verdict, Heard claimed: "It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously". Some domestic violence experts suggested that the extensive online ridicule Heard had experienced during the trial would deter women from reporting abuse. Various opinion pieces from major news outlets were written either in support of Heard or against her, as well as on the trial's implications for the future of the #MeToo movement.


Impact

''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' found that, out of 201 prominent men that had lost their jobs after public allegations of sexual harassment, nearly half of their replacements were women. In August 2021, the Washington Post analyzed the impact of #MeToo on changing behavior. The article states there was a surge of reports of sexual assault in the twelve months preceding October 2018, but that many of the claims related to people coming forward regarding past incidents. The article shows a mixed picture regarding changing behavior with a significantly smaller percentage of women having experienced sexual coercion or unwanted sexual attention at the office in 2018 in comparison to 2016, but with a sharp rise in subtler forms of behaviors that do not rise to the level of illegal sexual harassment, such as jokes about what is still allowed or telling inappropriate stories, which may have come as a backlash to the #MeToo movement. The article notes that in response to the #MeToo movement, 19 states have enacted new sexual harassment protections for victims and more than 200 bills were introduced in state legislatures to deter harassment.


U.S. media and fashion industries

The phrase "Me too" was tweeted by Milano on October 15, 2017, and had been used more than 200,000 times by the end of the day. It was also tweeted more than 500,000 times by October 16 and the hashtag was used by more than 4.7 million people in 12 million posts during the first 24 hours on
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
. The platform reported 45% of users in the United States had a friend who had posted using the term. Tens of thousands of people, including hundreds of celebrities, replied with #MeToo stories. Some men, such as actors Terry Crews and
James Van Der Beek James William Van Der Beek (; born March 8, 1977) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in the WB series ''Dawson's Creek'' and Johnny "Mox" Moxon in '' Varsity Blues'' (1999). He played a fictionalized version of h ...
, have responded to the hashtag with their own experiences of harassment and abuse. Others have responded by acknowledging past behaviors against women, spawning the hashtag #HowIWillChange. In addition to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
, "Me Too" declarations elicited discussion of sexual harassment and abuse in the
music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
, sciences, academia, and politics. Feminist author Gloria Feldt stated in ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' that many employers are being forced to make changes in response to #MeToo, for example examining gender-based pay differences and improving sexual harassment policies. Others have noted there has been pressure on companies, specifically in the financial industry, to disclose diversity statistics. In February 2019 actress
Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
wrote a letter to the American production company
Skydance Media Skydance Media, LLC (formerly known as Skydance Productions) is an American production company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison in 2006, the company entered a five-year partnership to co-produce and co-finance films wi ...
, to explain that she had pulled out of the production of the animated feature film ''
Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...
'' the month prior because of the company's decision to hire Disney Chief Creative Officer,
John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios ...
, who had been accused of harassing women while at Disney. His behavior resulted in his decision to take a six-month leave of absence from the company, as he indicated in a memo in which he acknowledged "painful" conversations and unspecified "missteps". Among others, Thompson stated: "If a man has been touching women inappropriately for decades, why would a woman want to work for him if the only reason he's not touching them inappropriately now is that it says in his contract that he must behave 'professionally'?". The 2019 rerelease of ''
Toy Story 2 ''Toy Story 2'' is a 1999 American computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The second installment in the ''Toy Story'' franchise and the sequel to '' Toy Story'' (1995), it was directed by John ...
'' had a blooper scene during the credits removed due to sexual misconduct concerns.


Churches

In November 2017, the hashtag #ChurchToo was started by Emily Joy and Hannah Paasch on Twitter and began trending in response to #MeToo as a way to try to highlight and stop sexual abuse that happens in a church. In early January 2018, about a hundred evangelical women also launched #SilenceIsNotSpiritual to call for changes to how sexual misconduct is dealt within the church. #ChurchToo started spreading again virally later in January 2018 in response to a live-streamed video admission by Pastor Andy Savage to his church that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl twenty years before as a youth pastor while driving her home, but then received applause by his church for admitting to the incident and asking for forgiveness. Pastor Andy Savage then resigned from his staff position at Highpoint Church and stepped away from ministry. According to Tom Inglis in his book, ''Are the Irish Different?,'' many have argued that the current issue of reported child sexual abuse in the Catholic church is one of the biggest crises in the church's history.


Education

The
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...
has had substantial accusations of sexual harassment reported yearly in the hundreds at all nine UC campuses, notably UC Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Diego. However, a landmark event at the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...
spearheaded the removal and reprimand of several campus officials and professors accused of sexual harassment and discrimination. In early July 2018, UC Irvine removed millionaire benefactor Francisco J. Ayala's name from its biology school, central science library, graduate fellowships, scholar programs, and endowed chairs after an internal investigation substantiated a number of sexual harassment claims. The results from the investigation were compiled in a 97-page report, which included testimony from victims enduring Ayala's harassment for 15 years. His removal promptly sparked the removal of Professor Ron Carlson in August 2018, who had led the creative writing program at UC Irvine. He resigned after substantiated reports of sexual misconduct with an underage student were unearthed. UC Irvine upon learning about the report accepted Professor Carlson's immediate resignation. Several claims were also reviewed against Thomas A. Parham, former vice chancellor at UC Irvine and former president of the Association of Black Psychologists. To address harassment within scientific settings, BethAnn McLaughlin started the #MeTooSTEM movement and hashtag. She called for the National Institutes of Health to cut funding to anyone who has been found guilty of harassment charges. McLaughlin shared the MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award with
Tarana Burke Tarana Burke (born September 12, 1973) is an American activist from The Bronx, New York, who started the MeToo movement. In 2006, Burke began using MeToo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. Over a decade lat ...
and Sherry Marts for her work on Me Too in STEM. There are still many places of education such as high schools, however, where legal intervention is not readily enforced for situations where sexual assault takes place.


Finance

It has been noted that, although the
financial industry Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...
is known to have a wide prevalence of sexual harassment, as of January 2018, there were no high-profile financial executives stepping down as the result of #MeToo allegations. The first widely covered example of concrete consequences in finance was when two reporters, including Madison Marriage of the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'', went undercover at a men-only
Presidents Club The Presidents Club Charitable Trust was a British charity known for an annual charity dinner held from 1985 to 2018. The dinner, held usually at The Dorchester hotel in London, was for male guests only and was considered a "mainstay of London's ...
event meant to raise money for children. Because women were not allowed to attend except as "hostesses" in tight, short black dresses with black underwear, Financial Times reporter Madison Marriage and another reporter got jobs as hostesses and documented widespread sexual misconduct. As a result, The Presidents Club was shut down. In March 2018,
Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
broker, Douglas E. Greenberg, was put on administrative leave after a ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' story outlined harassment allegations by four women, including multiple arrests for the violation of restraining orders, and a threat to burn down an ex-girlfriend's house. It has been called the #MeToo moment of Portland's financial service industry. The authors of a December 2018 ''
Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...
'' article on this topic interviewed more than thirty senior
Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...
executives and found that many are now more cautious about mentoring up and coming female executives because of the perceived risks involved. One said, "If men avoid working or traveling with women alone, or stop mentoring women for fear of being accused of sexual harassment, those men are going to back out of a sexual harassment complaint and right into a sex discrimination complaint."


Politics and government

Statehouses in California, Illinois, Oregon, and Rhode Island responded to allegations of sexual harassment surfaced by the campaign, and several women in politics spoke out about their experiences of sexual harassment, including
United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
s Heidi Heitkamp,
Mazie Hirono Mazie Keiko Hirono (; Japanese name: , ; born November 3, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Hawaii since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Hirono previously served as a member of th ...
,
Claire McCaskill Claire Conner McCaskill (; born July 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. McCaskill is a native of Rolla, Missouri. She g ...
and
Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as ...
. Congresswoman
Jackie Speier Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier ( ; born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving in Congress since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 12th Dis ...
has introduced a bill aimed at making sexual harassment complaints easier to report on
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
. The accusations in the world of
Spanish politics The politics of Spain takes place under the framework established by the Constitution of 1978. Spain is established as a social and democratic sovereign countryFirst article. wherein the national sovereignty is vested in the people, from w ...
have also been published in the media, and a series of allegations and research on MPs and political figures of (all major British political parties) regarding sexual impropriety became a nationwide scandal in 2017; this research was undertaken in the aftermath of the Weinstein scandal and the Me Too movement. Detective Leslie Branch-Wise of the Denver Police Department spoke publicly for the first time in 2018 about experiencing
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fr ...
by
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
Mayor Michael B. Hancock. The detective provided sexually suggestive text messages from Hancock sent to her while working for Hancock's
security detail A security detail, often known as a PSD (protective services detail, personal security detachment, personal security detail) or PPD (personal protection detail), is a protective team assigned to protect the personal security of an individual or ...
in 2012. After six years of keeping the secret, Detective Branch-Wise credited the Me Too movement as an inspiration to share her experience. Congressman
John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. The districts he represented always included part of western Detroit ...
was the first sitting United States politician to resign in the wake of #MeToo. Later in 2019, Katie Hill resigned from Congress due to an affair with a staffer after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into her conduct, stemming from these new rules. In October 2020, the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, Frank Jensen, resigned after admitting that he had been harassing women for about 30 years. The Danish Foreign Minister,
Jeppe Kofod Jeppe Sebastian Kofod (born 14 March 1974) is a Danish politician of the Social Democratic Party who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark between 27 June 2019 to 15 December 2022. Kofod previously served as a Member of the European ...
, was reported to police because he had intercourse with a 15-year-old girl. He has admitted the affair, but it is not clear whether it was criminal. The Me Too movement still struggles with getting laws passed in certain areas of the United States. The US government has not passed any laws for sexual harassment and abuse because Congress is holding out on it. Because no laws are not being passed, the movement stands up and continues to fight for social change. As they keep fighting, they get some changes across the US. In some states, there has been banning of nondisclosure agreements because of the situation with Harvey Weinstein. He kept his assistant from speaking out for 20 years because of the nondisclosure agreement that Weinstein made him sign. So this banning has been enforced in states such as California, New Jersey, and New York. There have been cases where the victims have been paid for their traumas. An example would be the case with Larry Nassar, who used to be the doctor for the USA Gymnastics team. Nassar was sent to jail for 40 and 175 years for sexually assaulting more than 100 gymnasts on the team. A 2021 study in the ''American Journal of Political Science'' found that supporters of the Me Too movement were far more even-handed when evaluating accusations of sexual misconduct in U.S. politics. Whereas partisans tended to be more likely to view accused out-party members as guilty of sexual misconduct than members of their party, Me Too supporters did not show similar degrees of favoritism towards their co-partisans. On November 2, 2021, professional tennis player
Peng Shuai Peng Shuai (; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese retired professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked world No. 1 doubles player by the WTA, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to achieve that ranking (in either single ...
accused Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. Gaoli is a former
Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China The vice premiers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China () are high-ranking officials under the premier and above the state councillors and ministers. Generally, the title is held by multiple individuals at any given time, wi ...
and a retired
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
official.


ME TOO bill in U.S. Congress

Jackie Speier Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier ( ; born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving in Congress since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 12th Dis ...
proposed the Member and Employee Training and Oversight on Congress Act (ME TOO Congress Act) on November 15, 2017. The full language of the bipartisan bill was revealed by the House on January 18, 2018, as an amendment to the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995. The purpose of the bill is to change how the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government treats sexual harassment complaints. Under the old system, complaints regarding the legislative branch were channeled through the Office of Compliance, which required complete confidentially through the process and took months of counseling and mediation before a complaint could be filed. Any settlement payments were paid using federal taxes, and it was reported that within a decade, $15 million of tax money had been spent settling harassment and discrimination complaints. The bill would ensure future complaints could only take up to 180 days to be filed. The bill would also allow the staffers to transfer to a different department or otherwise work away from the presence of the alleged harasser without losing their jobs if they requested it. The bill would require Representatives and Senators to pay for their harassment settlements. The Office of Compliance would no longer be allowed to keep settlements secret and would be required to publicly publish the settlement amounts and the associated employing offices. For the first time, the same protections would also apply to unpaid workers, including pages, fellows, and interns. On Thursday, February 10, 2022, The United States Congress gave final approval to legislation that ensures that anyone who is sexually harassed at work can seek legal redress, marking a watershed moment in the #MeToo movement, which sparked a national crisis over sexual misconduct.


Silicon Valley

In the months preceding the ''NY Times'' story on
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
,
Travis Kalanick Travis Cordell Kalanick (; born August 6, 1976) is an American businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of Uber. Previously he worked for Scour, a peer-to-peer file sharing application company, and was ...
(CEO of Uber at the time) came under fire for enabling a misogynist culture at the company, and having extensive knowledge of sexual harassment complaints at the company, while failing to do anything about them. After an initial blog post by a former Uber Engineer detailed her experiences at the company, more employees came out with their own stories, as documented in a follow-up article by the ''NY Times'' in late February 2017. In it, they detail how they had notified senior management including Kalanick about incidents of sexual harassment, and that their complaints had gone ignored. A few months later, in June 2017, Kalanick himself came under allegations of sexual harassment, as it was reported that he visited an escort bar in Seoul, bringing fellow female employees of the company along with him. One of the female employees filed a complaint to Human Resources about how she felt forced to be there, and was very uncomfortable in that environment, where women were made to wear tags with numbers on them, as if in an auction. Fresh allegations of sexual harassment at the company surfaced one year later, implicating Uber's Corporate Development Executive Cameron Poetzscher. The allegations made it clear that Uber was not taking this issue seriously enough. On October 25, 2018, ''The New York Times'' released a detailed report on the prior behavior of Andy Rubin at Google. The allegations cite that Google knew of a sexual misconduct claim against Rubin, and yet still decided to pay him a $90 million separation package at his departure from the company.


Sports

Soon after #MeToo started spreading in late 2017, several allegations from a 2016 ''
Indianapolis Star Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
'' article resurfaced in the gymnastic industry against former U.S. Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...
. Nassar was called out via #MeToo for sexually assaulting gymnasts as young as 6 years old during "treatments". Rachael Denhollander was the first to call him out. Though nothing was done after the initial allegations came out in 2016, after more than 150 women came forward, Nassar was effectively sentenced to life in prison. The president of
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...
,
Lou Anna Simon Lou Anna Kimsey Simon is an American academic administrator who served as the 20th president of Michigan State University (MSU). Simon was appointed interim president of the university in 2003, then served as president from 2005 until her resigna ...
, resigned in the wake of the scandal. At around the same time, WNBA star
Breanna Stewart Breanna Mackenzie Stewart (born Baldwin; born August 27, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In high school, Stewart was the National Gatorade Player o ...
publicly revealed that she had been a victim of child sexual abuse from age 9 to 11. In late November 2017, Lui Lai Yiu, a hurdler from Hong Kong, recounted in a Facebook post instances of having been sexually assaulted by her male coach when she was 14, sparking off mass controversy in Hong Kong. Her coach was arrested in late January 2018, but acquitted in mid-November 2018. In 1996, while attending the University of Tennessee, former
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
player
Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with ...
was accused of
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
by trainer Jamie Ann Naughright after he pressed his genitals against Naughright's face during a foot examination. Manning claims that he was just pulling a prank by " mooning" another athlete in the room as Naughright bent over to examine him. Both Naughright and the other athlete deny Manning's story. Naughright settled with the university for $300,000 for its alleged failure in four incidents, and resigned from the school. She had initially made a list of 33 complaints about the school. Naughright filed a defamation lawsuit against Peyton Manning and three other parties in 2002. Manning defamed her in a book he wrote with his father and author John Underwood. The lawsuit was settled after the court ruled there was sufficient evidence for it to be heard by a jury. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed due to confidentiality terms.


Medicine

MeToo has encouraged discussion about sexual harassment in the medical field. Research had indicated that among U.S. academic medical faculty members, about 30% of women and 4% of men have reported experiencing sexual harassment, and it has been noted that medical staff who complain often receive negative consequences to their careers. Other evidence has indicated 60% of medical trainees and students experienced harassment or discrimination during training, though most do not report the incidents.


Music

Several prominent musicians have expressed support for the Me Too movement and have shared their own experiences of sexual assault and harassment. Before the Me Too Movement, in 2017,
Jessie Reyez Jessica Reyez (born June 12, 1991) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Her 2016 single " Figures" peaked at number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100 in 2017 and was certified triple Platinum by Music Canada and Platinum by the RIAA. Her 2017 EP, '' K ...
released the song "Gatekeeper" about her experience of harassment by a famous producer, describing the conversations men in power have with young women working in the music industry. This song inspired female artists in the music industry to speak up against sexual harassment, contributing to the start of the Me Too movement. Actress Alyssa Milano's activism for the Me Too movement began because she was harassed at the age of 19 during a concert. On October 15, 2017, she started a viral Twitter thread by tweeting "If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet." Musicians such as
Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three ...
,
Christina Perri Christina Judith Perri (born August 19, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. After her debut single "Jar of Hearts" was featured on the television series '' So You Think You Can Dance'' in 2010, Perri signed with Atlantic Records and relea ...
and
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
responded and contributed their own personal experiences.
Amanda Palmer Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...
and songwriter Jasmine Power composed "Mr. Weinstein Will See You Now", a song that takes listeners through a story of a woman invited to the office of a man in power. A music video with an all-woman crew, cast and production team was released on the anniversary of the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''s reporting on sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein, with profits donated to #TimesUp, a movement against sexual harassment. The band
Veruca Salt Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, "Seether", tha ...
used the #MeToo hashtag to air allegations of sexual harassment against James Toback, and singer-songwriter Alice Glass used the hashtag to share a history of alleged sexual assault and other abuses by former
Crystal Castles Crystal Castles was a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, formed by songwriter-producer Ethan Kath and singer-songwriter Alice Glass, who later left and was replaced by Edith Frances. Crystal Castles were know ...
bandmate Ethan Kath. Singer-songwriter Halsey wrote a poem, "A Story Like Mine", which she delivered at a 2018 Women's March in New York City. The poem describes incidents of sexual assault and violence throughout her life, including accompanying her best friend to Planned Parenthood after she had been raped and her personal experiences of sexual assault by neighbors and boyfriends. Singer
Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on Americ ...
released the song "Praying," in July 2017, describing her experiences and feelings towards her abuser. The abuse occurred at the hands of her former producer, Dr. Luke of Sony Kemosabe Records. Former Red House Painters frontman and
Sun Kil Moon Sun Kil Moon is an American folk rock act from San Francisco, California, founded in 2002. Initially a continuation of the defunct indie rock band Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon is now the primary recording moniker of vocalist and guitarist ...
frontman,
Mark Kozelek Mark Edward Kozelek (born January 24, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and occasional actor. He is known as the vocalist and primary recording artist of the indie folk act Sun Kil Moon and founding member of th ...
was accused of sexual misconduct by several women that was reported by ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' in 2020 and 2021, respectively.


Allegations against figures in the music industry

In January 2019, the Lifetime documentary '' Surviving R. Kelly'' aired, describing several women's accusations of sexual, emotional, mental, and physical abuse by singer R. Kelly. The documentary questioned the "ecosystem" that "supports and enables" powerful individuals in the music industry. In February 2019, Kelly was arrested for ten alleged counts of sexual abuse against four women, three of whom were minors at the time of the incidents. His former wife
Andrea Kelly Andrea Danyell Kelly (née Lee, January 28, 1974), known professionally as Drea, is an American choreographer, dancer, and actress. She is the ex-wife of singer-songwriter R. Kelly. Background and personal life Andrea Danyell Lee was born in ...
has also accused him of domestic violence and filed a restraining order against him in 2005. Singer
Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on Americ ...
has accused her former producer Dr. Luke of sexually, physically, and emotionally abusing her since the beginning of her music career. Dr. Luke denied the allegations and a judge refused her request to be released from a contract with
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...
due to the alleged abuse. Kesha described her response to this experience in the song "Praying", which she performed at the 2018 Grammys. The song was seen as offering encouragement to sexual assault survivors that the world can improve. A documentary was also instrumental in publicizing accusations against the late singer
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...
. Child sexual abuse allegations against Jackson were renewed after the airing of the documentary ''
Leaving Neverland ''Leaving Neverland'' is a 2019 documentary film directed and produced by the British filmmaker Dan Reed. It focuses on two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege they were sexually abused as children by the American singer Michael Ja ...
'' in 2019. The documentary focuses on Wade Robson and James Safechuck and their interactions with Jackson, especially the sexual interactions they say they endured for years during their childhood. Both had previously testified in Jackson's defense — Safechuck as a child during the 1993 investigation, Robson both as a child in 1993 and as a young adult in 2005. In 2015, Robson's case against Jackson's estate was dismissed because it was filed too late. The documentary resulted in a backlash against Jackson and a reassessment of his legacy in some quarters, while other viewers dismissed it as one-sided, questioned its veracity and viewed it as unconvincing due to factual conflicts between the film and the 1993 and
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
allegations against Jackson, and his acquittal at trial. In 2020, it was revealed that rape allegations were made against former Recording Academy President, Neil Portnow.


Removal of music

In November 2018, WDOK ''Star 102'', a radio station in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
, Ohio, announced they removed the song " Baby, It's Cold Outside" from their playlist because listeners felt that the lyrics were inappropriate. The station's host commented "in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place". The streaming service
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active use ...
removed music by
XXXTentacion Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Though a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles, XXXTentacion ga ...
and R. Kelly from Spotify-curated playlists after allegations of "hateful conduct", but later reversed course because the allegations against the artists were unproven.


Social justice and journalism

Sarah Lyons wrote "Hands Off Pants On", in which she explained the importance of allowing an open space for victims of sexual assault in the work place to heal. Sarah Jaffe analyzed the issues facing victims who follow through with police departments and the court system.


Military

In the wake of #MeToo, #MeTooMilitary came to be used by service men and women who were sexually assaulted or harassed while in the military, appearing on social media in January 2018 the day after remarks by
Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...
at the
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
s honoring female soldiers in the military "whose names we'll never know" who have suffered sexual assault and abuse to make things better for women today. A report from
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
indicated that 15,000 members of the military reported being sexually assaulted in the year 2016 and only 1 out of 3 people assaulted actually made a report.
Veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...
Nichole Bowen-Crawford has said the rates have improved over the last decade, but the military still has a long way to go, and recommends that women veterans connect privately on social media to discuss sexual abuse in a safe environment. There was a "#MeTooMilitary Stand Down" protest, organized by Service Women's Action Network, which gathered at
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
on January 8, 2018. The protest was endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defense, who stated that current service members were welcome to attend as long as they did not wear their uniform. The protest supported the Military Justice Improvement Act, sponsored by Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from New York since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as member of the U.S. House of ...
, which would move "the decision over whether to prosecute serious excrimes to independent, trained, professional military prosecutors, while leaving uniquely military crimes within the chain of command".


Pornography

There have been discussions about how pornography is related to the emergence of the #MeToo movement, and what changes, if any, should be made to the porn industry in response. The deaths of five female porn actresses during the first three months of 2018 inspired demands that workers in the industry be included as part of the #MeToo movement. It has been pointed out that many women and men have been sexually assaulted on set. Some high-profile pornographic performers have been accused of assault since the emergence of #MeToo, including James Deen and Ron Jeremy. The porn industry has overall been publicly supportive of #MeToo, with the topics of harassment and bodily autonomy being addressed at the 2018
AVN Award The AVN Awards are film awards sponsored and presented by the American adult video industry trade magazine '' AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') to recognize achievement in various aspects of the creation and marketing of American pornographic fi ...
s. There have been calls for the industry to police itself better in the wake of #MeToo. However, when gay actor Tegan Zayne accused fellow actor Topher DiMaggio of rape in a #MeToo post, and four other men came forward with their own allegations of sexual misconduct against DiMaggio, very little happened and there was no official investigation. Several groups of Christians, conservative women, and radical feminists have argued that #MeToo demonstrates pornography causes women to be viewed as sexual objects and contributes to the prevalence of sexual harassment. As a result, these groups believe the production and consumption of pornography should be greatly restricted or made illegal. Others have pointed out that porn consumption in the U.S. is ballooning while rates of sexual violence and rape have been falling since the anti-pornography movement in the U.S. first emerged during the 1960s. Additionally, some commenters have stated that laws which make pornography illegal only further restrict women's bodily autonomy. Lucia Graves stated in
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
that pornography can be empowering or enjoyable for women and depicting female sexuality is not always objectification. Award-winning porn actress and director Angela White says there is a "large positive shift within the industry" to more women directing and producing their own content and "to represent women as powerful sexual beings." Anti-porn activist Melissa Farley has said this ignores the "choicelessness" faced by many actresses in porn. Liberal advocates argue that anti-pornography movements in the U.S. have historically never tried to increase choices for vulnerable adult performers, and taking away a person's right to act in porn may hurt them economically by reducing their choices. Many adult performers have stated that the social stigma surrounding their type of work is already a major barrier to seeking help, and making porn illegal would leave them few options if they are suffering from sexual abuse. As a result of #MeToo, many adult performers, sex worker advocates and feminists have called for greater protections for pornographic actresses, for example reducing social stigmas, mandating training courses that teach performers their rights, and providing access to independent hotlines where performers can report abuse. They argue that making porn illegal would only cause the production of porn to go underground where there are even fewer options for help. Some liberal activists have argued to compromise by raising the legal age of entry into adult entertainment from 18 to 21, which would prevent some of the most vulnerable women from being taken advantage of, while allowing adult women to still do what they want with their own bodies. Some have pointed out that many young people who do not receive a sex education adopt ideas about sex and sexual roles from pornography, whose fantasy depictions of those behaviors are not accurate to life, as they are designed for purposes of adult entertainment, and not educating the public on the reality of sexual behavior. Some areas of the United States teach birth-control methods only by
abstinence Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, etc. ...
from sex. In a 2015 article for the '' American Journal of Nursing'' David Carter noted that a study found that abstinence-based education was "correlated with increases in teenage pregnancies and births". Multiple people have voiced support for comprehensive
sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...
programs that encompass a wide range topics, which they state leave children more informed. Several feminists have argued it is crucial to provide children with basic sex education before they are inevitably exposed to porn. Sex education can also effectively prepare children to identify and say no to unwanted sexual contact before it occurs, and gives parents an opportunity to teach children about consent.


Animal advocacy

The #MeToo movement has had an impact on the field of animal advocacy. For instance, on January 30, 2018, Politico published an article titled, "Female Employees Allege Culture of Sexual Harassment at Humane Society: Two senior officials, including the CEO, have been investigated for incidents dating back over a decade." The article concerned allegations against then-Humane Society of the United States CEO Wayne Pacelle and animal protection activist Paul Shapiro. Mr. Pacelle soon resigned. Mr. Shapiro also soon left the Humane Society of the United States. Both men have nonetheless continued to hold leadership positions either in, or adjacent to, the animal protection movement.


Astronomy

The #astroSH Twitter tag was used to discuss sexual harassment in the field of Astronomy, and several scientists and professors resigned or were fired.


Financial support

In May 2018, The New York Women's Foundation announced their Fund to Support the Me Too Movement and Allies, a $25 million commitment over the next five years to provide funding and support survivors of sexual violence. In September 2018, CBS announced that it would be donating $20 million of former Chairman Les Moonves' severance to #MeToo. Moonves was forced to step down after numerous sexual misconduct accusations.


International response

The hashtag has trended in at least 85 countries. Direct translations of #MeToo have been shared by Spanish speakers in South America and Europe and by
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
speakers in Africa and the Middle East, while activists in France and Italy have developed hashtags to express the attitudes of the movement. Communicating similar experiences and "sharing feelings in some form of togetherness" connects people and can lead to "formation of a process of collective action" (Castells). The campaign has prompted survivors from around the world to share their stories, and name their perpetrators. The
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
convened a session directly in response to the Me Too campaign, after it gave rise to allegations of abuse in Parliament and in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
's offices in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
Cecilia Malmström Anna Cecilia Malmström (born 15 May 1968) is a Swedish politician who served as European Commissioner for Trade from 2014 to 2019. She previously served as European Commissioner for Home Affairs from 2010 to 2014 and Minister for European U ...
, the European Commissioner for Trade, specifically cited the hashtag as the reason the meeting had been convened.


#HimToo

The related hashtag #HimToo emerged in popularity with the #MeToo movement. Although dating back to at least 2015, and initially associated with politics or casual communication, #HimToo took on new meanings associated with #MeToo in 2017, with some using it to emphasize male victims of sexual harassment and abuse, and others using it to emphasize male perpetrators. In September and October 2018, during the sexual assault allegations raised during Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, #HimToo became used by supporters of Kavanaugh and to highlight male victims of false accusations.


Criticism


False accusations

There has been discussion about the extent to which accusers should be believed before
fact-checking Fact-checking is the process of verifying factual information, in order to promote the veracity and correctness of reporting. Fact-checking can be conducted before (''ante hoc'') or after (''post hoc'') the text is published or otherwise dissem ...
. Some have questioned whether the accused are being punished without any
due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual per ...
establishing their guilt. Many commentators have responded that the number of false reports make up a small percentage of total reports, citing figures obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice and other organizations that have generally found that around 2-10% of rape and sexual assault allegations reported to police are determined to be false after a thorough investigation. However, the 2–10% does not include cases in which it cannot be established if the accused is innocent or guilty, nor does it include allegations that are never reported to law enforcement. A February 2005 study by the UK Home Office that compiled data on 2,284 reported rape cases found that from a set of 216 rape cases later found to be false, only six led to arrests and only two involved charges being filed. ''Elle'' writer
Jude Ellison Sady Doyle Jude Ellison Sady Doyle (formerly Sady Doyle; born June 11, 1982) is an American feminist author. Profile In 2005, Doyle graduated from Eugene Lang College. He founded the blog Tiger Beatdown (a punning reference to '' Tiger Beat'') in 2008. ...
commented that another hashtag, #BelieveWomen, was not a threat to due process but a commitment to "recognize that false allegations are less common than real ones". Jennifer Wright of ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the ...
'' proposed a similar definition of #BelieveWomen and pointed out ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' ability to quickly identify a false accusation set up by
Project Veritas Project Veritas is an American far-right activist group founded by James O'Keefe in 2010. The group produces deceptively edited videos of its undercover operations, which use secret recordings in an effort to discredit mainstream media orga ...
. She also stated that only 52 rape convictions being overturned in the United States since 1989, as opposed to 790 for murder, was strong evidence that at least 90% of rape allegations are true. Michelle Malkin expressed a suspicion that many stories in the #MeToo movement would be exaggerated and accused news outlets of focusing on "hashtag trends spread by celebrities, anonymous claimants and bots". On November 30, 2017,
Ijeoma Oluo Ijeoma Oluo (; born 1980) is an American writer. She is the author of '' So You Want to Talk About Race'' and has written for ''The Guardian,'' ''Jezebel'', '' The Stranger'', ''Medium'', and ''The Establishment'', where she was also an editor-at ...
revealed the contents of a request she received from ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', asking her to write a piece arguing that due process is unnecessary for sexual harassment allegations. She refused, saying "of course I believe in due process" and wrote that it was disingenuous for the paper to ask her "to be their strawman". During their 2001 divorce, model Donya Fiorentino accused actor
Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy F ...
of perpetrating a
domestic assault Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...
—something he maintains never took place. Following an extended investigation, Oldman was cleared of wrongdoing and awarded sole legal and physical
child custody Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the ri ...
; Fiorentino received limited, state-supervised
contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * C ...
dependent on her passing drug and alcohol tests. In early 2018, however, Fiorentino was granted media interviews in which to revive the assault allegation while referring to the MeToo movement. Her commentary coincided with Oldman's
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...
win at the
90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...
(for his performance in 2017's '' Darkest Hour''), which was condemned by Twitter users and described by reporters as "disappointing", "a referendum on the structure of Hollywood", and indicative of "how much Hollywood really cares about purging the industry's toxic men". Fiorentino and Oldman's son, Gulliver, lambasted "so-called 'journalists'" for perpetuating a claim that was "discredited as false years ago". He expressed trepidation about defending an accused male in the face of MeToo, saying, "I can see how coming out with a statement to combat an allegation must look. However, I was there at the time of the 'incident'." Oldman's representative pointed to the 2001 courtroom outcome, accused Fiorentino of using MeToo as "convenient cover to further a personal vendetta", and requested that the press not allow the movement to be "misused as an instrument of harm to decent people by people with very bad intentions". On September 21, 2018, President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
accused Dr. Christine Blasey Ford of making up her accusations against now Associate Justice of the Supreme Court,
Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since O ...
, saying that if her story was true she would have filed a report against him when it had happened. This is a common argument against the MeToo movement and alleged sexual assault victims alike. On October 11, 2018,
First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non- monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the ...
Melania Trump said that women who make accusations of sexual abuse against men should back their claims with solid evidence.


Undefined purpose

There has been discussion about whether the movement is meant to inspire change in all men or just a percentage of them, and what specific actions are the end goal of the movement. Other women have stated #MeToo should examine only the worst types of abuse in order to prevent casting all men as perpetrators, or causing people to become numb to the problem. Creator
Tarana Burke Tarana Burke (born September 12, 1973) is an American activist from The Bronx, New York, who started the MeToo movement. In 2006, Burke began using MeToo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. Over a decade lat ...
has laid out specific goals for the #MeToo movement, including: processing all untested rape kits in the United States, investigating the vetting of teachers, better protecting children at school, updating sexual harassment policies, and improving training in workplaces, places of worship, and schools. She has stated that everyone in a community, including men and women, must act to make the #MeToo movement a success. She also supports the #MeToo Congress bill and hopes it will inspire similar legal changes in other parts of the country. Samantha Geimer, the victim of rape by film director
Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...
, said that "when it's used as a weapon to attack famous people or harm and demonize certain people I don't think that's ever what #MeToo was meant for and it's become kind of toxic and lost its value".


Overcorrection

Richard Ackland Richard Alan Ackland is an Australian journalist, publisher and lawyer, who has won many awards for his reporting. Ackland graduated with degrees in economics and law in the early 1970s and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of ...
described the response to
defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
cases "an asphyxiating vortex of litigation". There has been discussion on whether harsh consequences are warranted for particular examples of alleged misconduct. An especially divisive story broke on Babe.net on January 13, 2018, when an anonymous accuser detailed the events of her date with
Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series '' Mas ...
and referred to what transpired as "sexual assault".
Jill Filipovic Jill Nicole Filipovic (born August 3, 1983) is an American author and lawyer. Education Originally from the Seattle area, Filipovic attended Shorewood High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and politics and a minor in gender a ...
wrote for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' that "it was only a matter of time before a publication did us the disservice of publishing a sensational story of a badly behaved man who was nonetheless not a sexual assailant". James Hamblin wrote for ''The Atlantic'' that, instead, these "stories of gray areas are exactly what ..need to be told and discussed." Some actors have admonished proponents of the movement for not distinguishing between different degrees of sexual misconduct.
Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...
commented on the phenomenon in an interview, and later apologized, saying "the clearer signal to men and to younger people is, deny it. Because if you take responsibility for what you did, your life's going to get ruined." Subsequently,
Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on '' Th ...
opined that some accused men, including
Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radi ...
and
Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...
, had been treated unfairly. Tarana Burke said in January 2018, "Those of us who do this work know that backlash is inevitable." While describing the backlash as carrying an underlying sentiment of fairness, she defended her movement as "not a witch hunt as people try to paint it". She stated that engaging with the cultural critique in #MeToo was more productive than calling for it to end or focusing on accused men who "haven't actually touched anybody".
Ronan Farrow Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow (born December 19, 1987) is an American journalist. The son of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen, he is best known for his investigative reporting of allegations of sexual abuse against film producer H ...
, who published the Weinstein exposé in the ''New Yorker'' that helped start the #MeToo resurgence (alongside ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reporters
Megan Twohey Megan Twohey () is an American journalist with ''The New York Times''. She has written investigative reports for Reuters, the '' Chicago Tribune,'' and the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel''. Twohey's investigative reports have exposed exploitativ ...
and Jodi Kantor), was asked in late December 2017 whether he thought the movement had "gone too far". Farrow called for a careful examination of each story to guard against false accusations but also recalled the alleged sexual abuse his sister Dylan Farrow claims she went through at the hands of his father
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
. He stated that after decades of silence, "My feeling is that this is a net benefit to society and that all of the people, men, and women, pouring forward and saying 'me too' deserve this moment. I think you're right to say that we all have to be conscious of the risk of the pendulum swinging too far, but in general this is a very positive step."
Ijeoma Oluo Ijeoma Oluo (; born 1980) is an American writer. She is the author of '' So You Want to Talk About Race'' and has written for ''The Guardian,'' ''Jezebel'', '' The Stranger'', ''Medium'', and ''The Establishment'', where she was also an editor-at ...
spoke about how some Democrats have expressed regret over the resignation of Senator
Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, politician, media personality, and author who served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. He gained fame as a writer and performer on the television comed ...
due to allegations of sexual misconduct. She sympathized with them but stressed the importance of punishing misconduct regardless of whether the perpetrator is viewed as "a bad guy" overall. She wrote that "most abusers are more like Al Franken than
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
". ''The New York Times'' has called this discussion the "Louis C.K. Conundrum", referring to the admission by comedian Louis C.K. that he committed sexual misconduct with five women, and the subsequent debate over whether any guilt should be associated with enjoyment of his work. Jennifer Wright of ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the ...
'' has said that public fears of an overcorrection reflect the difficulty of accepting that "likeable men can abuse women too". A 2019 LeanIn.Org/ SurveyMonkey survey showed that 60 percent of male managers reported being "too nervous" of being accused of harassment when mentoring, socializing, or having one-on-one meetings with women in the workplace. A 2019 study in the journal ''Organizational Dynamics'', published by
Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as '' The Lancet'', '' Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', ...
, found that men are significantly more reluctant to interact with their female colleagues. Examples include 27 percent of men avoid one-on-one meetings with female co-workers, 21 percent of men said they would be reluctant to hire women for a job that would require close interaction (such as business travel), and 19 percent of men being reluctant to hire an attractive woman.


Possible trauma to victims

The hashtag has been criticized for putting the responsibility of publicizing sexual harassment and abuse on those who experienced it, which could be re-
traumatizing Psychological trauma, mental trauma or psychotrauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events, such as accidents, rape, or natural disasters. Reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typical. ...
. The hashtag has been criticized as inspiring fatigue and outrage, rather than emotionally dense communication. Tony Robbins said he was "knocking victimhood" from the movement. The motivational speaker was also scrutinized for comments he made criticizing the movement, implying that women are victimizing themselves to gain significance. He later apologized adding, "I need to get connected to the brave women of #MeToo." Robbins was later accused of inappropriate sexual advances, and molesting an underage girl.


Exclusion of sex workers

There have been many calls for the #MeToo movement to include
sex workers A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...
and sex trafficking victims. Although these women experience a higher rate of sexual harassment and assault than any other group of people, they are often seen in society as legitimate targets that deserve such acts against them. Autumn Burris stated that prostitution is like "#MeToo on steroids" because the sexual harassment and assault described in #MeToo stories are frequent for women in prostitution. Melissa Farley argues that prostitution, even when consensual, can be a form of sexual assault, as it can be for money for food or similar items, thus, at least according to Farley, making prostitution a forced lifestyle relying on coercions for food. Many sex workers disagree with her stance, saying that she stigmatizes prostitution. American journalist Steven Thrasher noted that, "There has been worry that the #MeToo movement could lead to a sex panic. But the real sex panic is not due to feminism run amok, but due to the patriarchal, homophobic, transantagonistic, theocratic desire of the US Congress to control sex workers." He points to the 2018
Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act The FOSTA (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act) and SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act) are the U.S. Senate and House bills that became law on April 11, 2018. They clarify the country's sex trafficking law to mak ...
(SESTA), which many experts say will only put sex workers at further risk by causing them to go underground, does not offer sex workers any help or protections, and as a side effect prevents most people from using online personal ads regardless of their intentions. British filmmaker Bizhan Tong, a figure involved in various gender equality initiatives, wrote, directed, and self-funded the feature film ''The Escort'' after conducting a series of interviews with current and former sex workers in a direct attempt to lend a platform for their voices to be heard. The film was shot in 2017 and completed in 2018, premiered in New York in August that year, and received several awards across the globe. It is currently being adapted for the stage.


Failure to address police misconduct

Despite the prevalence of sexual misconduct, some have pointed out the lack of discussion in the #MeToo movement regarding law-enforcement misconduct. Police sexual misconduct disproportionately affects women of color, though women from all walks of life are affected. The
Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Ind ...
reported that in 2010, more than 9% of police misconduct reports in 2010 involved sexual abuse, and there are multiple indications that "sexual assault rates are significantly higher for police when compared to the general population." Fear of retribution is considered one reason some law-enforcement officers are not subjected to significant consequences for known misconduct. Police-reform activist Roger Goldman stated that an officer who is fired for sexual misconduct from one police department often gets rehired by a different department, where they can continue the misconduct in a new environment. Some states (such as Florida and Georgia) have licensing laws that can decertify a law-enforcement officer who has committed major misconduct, which prevents decertified officers from being hired again in that state. Some have called for sexual misconduct allegations against police to be investigated by third parties to reduce bias (as opposed to the common practice of investigations being led by fellow law-enforcement officers or colleagues in the same department).


Lack of representation of minority women

Many have pointed to a lack of representation of minority women in the #MeToo movement or its leadership. Most historical feminist movements have contained active elements of racism, and have typically ignored the needs of non-white women even though minority women are more likely to be targets of sexual harassment. Minority women are overrepresented in industries with the greatest number of sexual harassment claims, for example hotels, health, food services, and retail. It has been pointed out that undocumented minority women often have no recourse if they're experiencing sexual violence. Activist Charlene Carruthers said, "If wealthy, highly visible women in news and entertainment are sexually harassed, assaulted and raped—what do we think is happening to women in retail, food service and domestic work?" Former victim Farah Tanis stated there are also additional barriers for black women who want to participate in the #MeToo movement. She pointed out that social pressure discourages reports against black men, especially from church and family, because many would view that as a betrayal against their "brothers." Additionally, black women are less likely to be believed if they do speak out. Some have argued that the American judicial system acknowledges the term "sexual harassment" only because of successful sexual harassment lawsuits by three black women: Diane Williams and Paulette Barnes against the US government, and Mechelle Vinson against a bank. Vinson's case of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson led to the unanimous 1986 Supreme Court decision that sexual harassment violates the
Civil Rights Act Civil Rights Act may refer to several acts of the United States Congress, including: * Civil Rights Act of 1866, extending the rights of emancipated slaves by stating that any person born in the United States regardless of race is an American citi ...
. Black law professor
Anita Hill Anita Faye Hill (born July 30, 1956) is an American lawyer, educator and author. She is a professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of the university's Heller School for Social Policy and ...
again brought sexual harassment to public discourse in 1991 with her testimony against Supreme Court nominee
Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1 ...
. Tarana Burke initially criticized the movement for ignoring the work of black women in creating dialogue addressing sexual assault. However, she did salute those who partook in the movement and credited Milano for acknowledging Burke's own similar movement. As well as this, she pleaded to black women not to drop out of the movement just because the media isn't listening saying "This is your movement, too." American feminist and journalist
Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steinem was a c ...
said there is a blind spot surrounding
intersectionality Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...
between race and gender, and a major problem with today's feminists is they are not acknowledging "that women of color in general—and especially black women—have always been more likely to be feminist than white women." Steinem argues that #MeToo could never have happened without the work of these women, and women in the #MeToo movement have a responsibility: "If you have more power, remember to listen as much as you talk. And if you have less power, remember to talk as much as you listen."


Overemphasis on specific cases

The #MeToo movement has been criticized for putting too much public focus on the consequences of specific individuals who have been accused of sexual misconduct, as opposed to discussing policies and changes to institutional norms that would help people currently experiencing sexual abuse. It's been noted that although allegations surrounding high-profile public figures tend to attract the most attention, the stories of regular workers often go unacknowledged. Yet to ensure meaningful change, these workers’ experiences must be at the center of any policy solutions that lawmakers pursue. Tarana Burke has voiced similar misgivings, pointing out one problematic aspect of #MeToo is "All of this media attention is on the perpetrator. All of the conversation about fairness and due process is focused on the perpetrator." She states the movement should focus on specific steps to help current and future sufferers. Activist and writer
Jaclyn Friedman Jaclyn Friedman (; born 1971) is an American feminist writer and activist known as the co-editor (with Jessica Valenti) of '' Yes Means Yes: Visions of Sexual Power and a World Without Rape'' and ''Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the Wo ...
said, "We’ve got to stop treating each case that comes to light like a self-contained soap opera that ends when the villain is defeated, and start addressing the systems that have enabled workplace sexual abuse for so long." Writer
Jia Tolentino Jia Angeli Carla Tolentino (born 1988) is an American writer and editor. A staff writer for ''The New Yorker,'' she previously worked as deputy editor of ''Jezebel'' and a contributing editor at '' The Hairpin''. Her writing has also appeared in ...
has stated that it is natural to focus on the individual stories because they are "gripping and horrible", but determining the best workplace changes "doesn't have a ton to do with the specific investigation and adjudication of men that have already done this".


Disregard for incarcerated women

Prisoners' rights are significantly limited, and the power imbalance between female inmates and male officers allows and promotes prison rape and other forms of abuse. Many people have criticized the prison system for punishing women who act in self-defense. Others criticize the main outreach of the Me Too movement for failing to address the systemic imprisonment of abused women and men. The development of #MeToo Behind Bars happened after a lawsuit was filed by four female inmates against correctional officers that brutally abused them. This new campaign's purpose is to bring awareness to the public of sexual violence towards women in prison. Sara Kershner, lead campaign organizer, mentions that the perpetrators of this type of violence is usually the state, institutions, and society. She believes society disregards human rights of those who are incarerated simply because they do not deserve them. As a result, there is no solidarity.


Notes


Bibliography

* Vogelstein, Rachel B., and Stone, Meighan. ''Awakening: #MeToo and the Global Fight for Women's Rights''. United States, PublicAffairs, 2021.


See also

*
2017–18 United States political sexual scandals The 2017–18 United States political sexual scandals saw a heightened period of allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment and sexual assault, and resulted in the subsequent firings and resignations of American politicians. S ...
*
Believe women "Believe women" is an American political slogan arising out of the #MeToo movement. It refers to accepting women's allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault at face value. Jude Doyle, writing for ''Elle'', argues that the phrase means ...
* Billy Graham rule *
Ele Não movement The #EleNão (Portuguese for "not him") movement, also known as the protests against Jair Bolsonaro, were demonstrations led by women which took place in several regions of Brazil and, with less intensity, in other countries. The main goal was t ...
* Fourth-wave feminism * Hashtag activism *
Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) is a scheme set up by the British Houses of Parliament which investigates complaints about inappropriate behaviour, such as bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct, and provides advice to com ...
(ICGS) *
Job interview A job interview is an interview consisting of a conversation between a job applicant and a representative of an employer which is conducted to assess whether the applicant should be hired. Interviews are one of the most popularly used devices for ...
* MeTwo movement *
Spasime movement The #Spasime movement (translated as #SaveMe movement) is a 2019 Croatian social movement which fights domestic violence, and is an example of the MeToo effect. Background and origin The #Spasime movement was launched on Facebook in March 20 ...


References


Further reading

* Bhattacharyya, Rituparna. "# Metoo movement: An awareness campaign." ''International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change'' 3.4 (2018
online
* Cantalupo, Nancy Chi, and William C. Kidder. "Systematic prevention of a serial problem: Sexual harassment and bridging core concepts of Bakke in the# MeToo era." ''UC Davis Law Review'' 52 (2018): 2349
online
* Hillstrom, Laurie Collier. ''The #metoo movement'' (ABC-CLIO, 2018
excerpt
* Krook, Mona Lena. "Violence against women in politics." in ''How Gender Can Transform the Social Sciences'' (Palgrave Pivot, Cham, 2020) pp. 57–64. * Lăzăroiu, George, Zuzana Rowland, and Viera Bartosova. "Gendered power disparities, misogynist violence, and women's oppression: the #MeToo movement against workplace sexual harassment." ''Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice'' 10.2 (2018): 57-63. * Pollack, Ester. "Sweden and the #metoo movement." ''Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture'' 10.3 (2019): 185-200
online
* Roberts, Tony, and Gauthier Marchais. "Assessing the role of social media and digital technology in violence reporting." ''Contemporary Readings in Law & Social Justice'' 10.2 (2018
online
* Tambe, Ashwini. "Reckoning with the Silences of #MeToo." ''Feminist studies'' 44.1 (2018): 197-20
online
* Tippett, Elizabeth C. "The legal implications of the MeToo movement." ''Minnesota Law Review'' 103 (2018): 229
online


External links

* {{Authority control 2017 in Internet culture 2017 in women's history 2017 neologisms 2018 in Internet culture 2019 in Internet culture 21st-century social movements Child sexual abuse Feminist movements and ideologies Hashtags Internet-based activism Social media campaigns October 2017 events Sexual abuse Sexual harassment Sexual misconduct allegations Slogans Violence against children Violence against men Violence against women Sexual harassment journalism