#MeToo

On October 15, Alyssa Milano encouraged her followers on Twitter to tell their stories of surviving sexual harassment with the hashtag #MeToo. Suddenly, social media was flooded with stories of women who had been sexually harassed. The overwhelming response was not limited to Twitter. For several days, whenever you logged in to Facebook, #MeToo was almost all you saw. The response highlighted the magnitude of this epidemic of sexual assault. Not only did this hashtag trend shed light on the proliferation of sexual misconduct, it began bringing consequences to those who had been accused.

Even well-known celebrities were coming forward, acknowledging that they had been victims. Numerous actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, and Ashley Judd, spoke out against Harvey Weinstein. He was removed from his own company. Kevin Spacey was accused by Anthony Rapp, among others, and was removed from the show "House of Cards". Jeremy Piven, Jeffrey Tambor, Louis C.K. and Brett Ratner are among the many high-profile men who have been accused of sexual assault. The names keep coming out. The names should keep coming out. Without consequences, the perpetrators will continue to do wrong, and others will be encouraged to join.

Are every single one of these allegations true? Statistically, probably not every single one. But can we afford to ignore even one of these? No. Women are finally coming out with the truth after years of being shamed into silence. They have been shamed into thinking it was their fault they were harassed, that just because they were wearing something, they must have “wanted it.” They were being shamed into thinking maybe they were just easy. The blame only lies with those who perpetrated the harassment. The blame belongs to those who think they can just take what they want without permission. Unwanted sexual advances are never okay, and there are consequences.

#MeToo #HarveyWeinstein #AlyssaMilano #SexualAssault