The Me Too movement is a social movement that was organised to speak out against sexual abuse and sexual harassment. The phrase was used in 2006 on social media first by Tarana Burke who was also a sexual assault survivor. Her activism got the attention of Harvard University which then led to the study of Burke as a case study, titled, “Leading with empathy: Tarana Burke and the making of the Me Too movement.
The movement no doubt meant a lot to Tarana as it was aimed at empowering individuals, most of which were young girls or women who had been sexually harassed in one way or the other, especially in their workplace. With encouragement from Alyssa Milano, the Me Too movement became a hashtag in October 2017 after the numerous sexual assault allegations put forward by various women against Harvey Weinstein.
This also led to the viral flows of comments, retweets and reposts on social media, drawing the attention of celebrities in Hollywood and many of them reposting the Me Too hashtag to ascertain that they have also been victims of such illicit actions.
Thanks to the wide media coverage and exposure, the movement led to the termination of high-profile individuals who were found to be involved in cases of sexual harassment and found guilty. Social media was no doubt a very valuable tool in enabling this hashtag to travel across the US and beyond, as it also translated to other languages which made the movement expand and grow to much higher levels.
This also led to a large flow of women coming out of their hiding places and speaking up with confidence about being sexually harassed. Soon enough, the movement was not just focused on those assaulted in the workplace but students also began to speak out on the sexual harassments from their teachers/lecturers in schools. According to the analyses made by the WHO, about one third of the women on earth have been victims of sexual harassment in one way or the other. Until the movement, cases of sexual harassments were taken with levity, but this was not the case with the coming of this movement.
It has in more ways than one, helped the world in understanding the magnitude of this problem. Burke suggested that important actions such as, processing all untested rape kits, re-examining local school policies, improving the vetting of teachers and updating sexual harassment policies should be carried out as possible solutions to dealing with sexual harassment issues.
The Me Too movement has given a voice to the voiceless as it has been a movement that has done well to build confidence across generations of women. Especially in cases where they have been told not to speak out. Soon enough, Me Too became a voice for other genders to who have been victims of sexual harassment and due to the impact that the movement had, policies were made to ensure that the culprits do not go scout free and that the victims were not forced to keep silent on such matters.
Every individual should be part of the Me Too movement, regardless of whether you have been a victim or not. Speaking out on behalf of others and fighting to see that justice is served should be a part of our everyday lives as humans willing and wanting to make changes. And so, it’s not just ‘me too’, but it's “you too”, “her too”, “him too”, “they too”- it's “us too”!
Editor’s Note: Munya Mwaijumba
This is a very informative article that discusses important issues surrounding sexual assault and includes important statistics and information that can be helpful to both victims and their supporters. Explaining the origins of the movement and how its grown and evolved is also something that is interesting to read and makes you think about how MeToo shapes the future.
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