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What is #metoo?

6th November 2017 Posted by: Laura Kemp

#metoo is a hashtag with a heartbreaking origin, following the experiences of social activist and program director for Brooklyn-based Girls for Gender Equity, Tarana Burke.

 

Back in 1996, when she was a youth camp director, Burke had an all-girl bonding session with several of the children attending the camp. One 13-year-old girl asked to speak to her privately, where she told Burke all about the horrific sexual abuse she had been experiencing from her stepfather. Unsure of what to say, Burke cut the girl off, and directed her to another female counsellor who could ‘help her better’. Burke never forgot the look on the girl’s face, as the girl was forced to keep her secrets to herself once again and go back out to face the world as a victim.

In 2006, Burke coined the phrase ‘me too’ on MySpace, as part of a grassroots campaign to promote ‘power through empathy’ amongst women of colour, particularly within underprivileged communities. ‘Me too’ was specifically picked as it’s what she wished for years to have told the young girl at the camp in response to hearing of her experience. It was chosen as a bold, declarative statement that shows empathy between women, and creates a bond.

Today, you’ll most likely recognise the hashtag as a viral movement on social media from October 2017 to denounce sexual harassment in the rise of sexual assault claims against Hollywood media mogul, Harvey Weinstein. Popularised at first by actress Alyssa Milano, who proposed on Twitter all women including ‘me too’ in their posts in order to ‘give a sense of the magnitude of the problem’. Women have since added the hashtag to their social media posts to indicate that they have been sexually harassed or assaulted.

The idea behind the hashtag is to indicate the scope of the problem, to highlight the alarmingly high rates of sexual assault, and to stand in solidarity with one another as a result.

Since Milano tweeted, over 6 million Facebook users have followed suit, and the hashtag trended in at least 85 countries from India to the UK, with 825,000 users on Twitter within the first 2 days – both by women and men. Social media has been flooded with stories of harassment, and the hashtag has become a way for people to tell their experiences of sexual violence in a growing support network. Celebrities have also caught on, with Bjork, Ellen Degeneres, and Lady Gaga sharing the hashtag too, and variants were used in other countries, including the French ‘BalanceTonPorc’, or ‘Squeal On Your Pig’.

The challenge now is to figure out how to take this campaign beyond a viral movement. You too can help, by contacting the MeToo Support Group if you too have been affected by sexual harassment or abuse, and by sharing your story and helping to expose the perpetrator to show how serious these crimes really are. Don’t forget to add your #metoo hashtag in a social media post to show your solidarity with others affected too.


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