Women share their accounts of sexual harassment on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #MeToo
Why #MeToo and why now?
After several Hollywood actors opened up about their stories of sexual assault by the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, stories emerged of how common it is for workplace sexual misconduct to occur. On Sunday Oct. 15, actor Alyssa Milano tweeted a photo whose caption read, “Suggested by a friend: 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.” Following this, thousands of women have joined the movement via Twitter and Facebook, sharing the hashtag and in many cases, their stories. This movement is timely not only because of the Weinstein accusations, but following the Donald Trump campaign which was subpoenaed after “The Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos accused the president of sexual assault.
Why is this important?
Social media is now a tool for social activism. Several campaigns have started on social media, most notably #BlackLivesMatter, which focused on police brutality against the African American population. The #MeToo campaign sheds light on the problem of sexual assault which not only affects Hollywood actors, but women throughout the country as well. Many activists have noted the movement not only shows how many women are affected by sexual harassment, but also that there are even more people who have not posted who have also been affected. “Reminder that if a woman didn’t post #MeToo, it doesn’t mean she wasn’t sexually assaulted or harassed. Survivors don’t owe you their story,” tweeted Alexis Beneviste, writer for the New York Post and Teen Vogue. Additionally, many who have participated in the #MeToo movement have used this as a call to action for men, asking them to consider participating in the dismantling of a system that perpetuates the silence of sexual assault, while still acknowleding that men can be victims of sexual assault too. “Men, don’t say you have a mother, a sister, a daughter…say you have a father, a brother, a son who can do better. We all can. #MeToo,” tweeted stand-up comedian Nick Jack Pappas.
How does this affect Saint Joseph’s University students?
Sexual assault happens at St. Joe’s. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, “one in 5 women, and one in 16 women are sexually assaulted while in college” and over 90 percent of those victims do not report their assault. St. Joe’s has many resources to service any student who has been affected by sexual harassment or sexual assault. These include R.E.P.P. (Race Education Prevention Program), the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), and the Women’s Center
