Identity and Online Advocacy

#MeToo: Breaking taboos, raising awareness, empowering and uniting victims around the world

Abstract:

The #MeToo movement made headlines by drawing attention and raising awareness to the pervasiveness that sexual harassment and abuse is a phenomenon that occurs globally in different settings whereby previously there was a lack of understanding of the underlying impact on victims. This paper delves into the importance of online advocacy through hashtag activism by focusing on the positive aspects of the ‘Me Too’ campaign through the ways victims feel empowered and are breaking taboos and to remove the guilt of being a sexual assault victim by speaking up on their experiences, which is creating a community among survivors allowing them to heal.

Keywords: #Online Advocacy, #MeToo, #SexualHarassment #Awareness #Victims #Community #Empowerment  

Introduction:

The #MeToo movement has become a revolution around the globe as a movement to empower survivors of sexual harassment or abuse to stand and tell their stories and heal themselves. The ‘Me Too’ movement started way back in 2006, by activist Tarana Burke who tried to put an end to abuse and sexual harassment of women and aiming to support and unite victims and hold the perpetrators accountable for what they did, creating empowerment through empathy (Murphy,2019). Following actress Ashley Judd’s revelation of the sexual harassment of Harvey Weinstein with the use of ‘#MeToo’, Actress Alyssa Milano used her social media account as a communication tool by tweeting on October 15, 2017, and encouraged women who experienced any form of harassment or misconduct to come forward and share their stories by using #MeToo to show the number of victims who have been through these situations. According to Palmer et al. (2021) research, within that day, people used the hashtag 12 million times that created a participatory culture within the online community and became the most trending hashtag and went viral around the world. The development of the movement helped to build a safe and supportive community whereby survivors worldwide build the courage to break their silence that they kept for a long time by speaking up about their experiences, testifying against the perpetrators, hoping for a change in the society.

MeToo movement raising awareness and breaking taboos

 With the popularity of the of #MeToo movement, women are no longer silent and afraid to speak about their experiences. The #MeToo movement has globally helped raised awareness and break taboo about how sexual violence exists in a widespread spectrum of misogynistic behavior that is supported by hierarchies of silence and domination and is helping people to understand and acknowledge the need to listen and believe the stories of survivors as well encouraging people to engage in the topic and learn the detrimental impact of sexual harassment or abuse on victims’ health, (Crawley & Simic, 2018).

The allegation against producer Harvey Weinstein has generated an important conversation about sexual assault and misconduct in Hollywood and beyond that. According to BBC News, (2020), Harvey Weinstein was found guilty due to his misconduct and was sentenced to 23 years of prison, which gave hope to sexual harassment survivors that through the #MeToo movement they can bring changes in society. Several survivors of sexual harassment or other forms of misconduct came out to speak on the topic using the hashtag #MeToo to show the magnitude of the problem and sharing their testimonies and reasons they kept silent before and now feel encouraged and safe to share their stories. Through Sambaraju’s research (2020), online advocacy is an important factor to bring a change in society by empowering victims and allowing them a platform to speak about their experiences, which was difficult without digital advocacy due to fear of being judged. Seeing how Harvey Weinstein went down, more victims do not feel the need to hide and are feeling empowered through the #MeToo movement to disclose the name of their perpetrators.  An example to illustrate the reason victims keep their silence on the topic is because of the stigma surrounding being a victim of sexual misconduct and being told to accept it is shown through Najwa Zebian, a Lebanese-Canadian activist, author, and poet who took to Twitter on October 16, 2017, using the hashtag #MeToo sharing the way society view harassment and what she was told.

Figure 1: Najwa Zebian’s tweet illustrating what she was told in the past when speaking of harassment.

Empowerment through empathy

Harassment, rape, and abuse cases were previously considered taboo in society. With the help of online advocacy movement like #MeToo, victims feel less intimidated to speak up and where people used to suspect their confession, in today’s era more people believe their words, and understand the importance of the subject (Roth-Cohen, 2021). In China, The #MeToo movement has empowered and motivated women to raise their voices and share their stories from the past by fighting for the rights of women. On university campuses, was first seen where students spoke openly against the misconduct of their professors, and in January 2018, a former doctoral student alleged her former supervisor of assaulting several students and her, (Zhongxuan & Liu, 2019).

In the 1990’s a student at Peking University in Beijing ended up committing suicide, after she was sexually harassed and raped by a popular lecturer at the university named Shen, feeling empowered by the #MeToo movement, the late student’s friends and supporters paid tribute to her death at a festival which gained attention and sparked anger which resulted in Shen having to resign from his job, (Zhongxuan & Liu, 2019). This shows how in the 1990’s the situation was disregarded and how in the current time with online advocacy and movement like #MeToo the situation has reversed and changed in the sense that now women do not feel weak and intimidated to speak out about their experiences and are aware they are not the one to be blamed but it is the offenders who should be punished by the authority and should be re-educated about sex education, violence and harassment. According to Zhongxuan & Liu, (2019), victims of sexual assaults were able to reconstruct their identity through efforts and encouragement through the #MeToo movement and heal from the pain that was caused.

Impact of #MeToo on sexual survivors’ mental health

Being sexually assaulted takes a toll on the health of victims. One of the primary forms of trauma is sexual assault, which has a severe effect on the psychological health of victims where they get anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and have suicidal thoughts, (Campbell et al.,2009). According to Roth-Cohen, (2021), the online #MeToo movement revealed the reality of sexual harassment occurs throughout the globe. According to the study of Gundersen & Zaleski, (2020) researchers find that when victims are talking about their assault, their psychological and physical health at the same time improved. Through a study, participants were asked what pushed them to reveal their story online, to which most of them replied that they no longer wanted to remain quiet and want people to know their story as they have seen posts where some people are using rape as humour and making jokes out of it and therefore they wanted to come out and reveal that anyone can be a victim of abuse or rape and they are not weird like how society regards them as the ‘others,’ (Gundersen & Zaleski, 2020).

 Before the movement, the survivors felt guilty and at fault for their situation and did not dare to talk to someone about their experience and kept their hidden pain to themselves; while they were suffering from mental health issues. With the progression of the movement, survivors feel empowered to bring a change in society by shining a light on the problem and help other victims feel safe, united and make them realise they are not at fault and the perpetrators who are to blame and punished. According to the research of Strauss Swanson et al., (2020), through the activism of the movement, when survivors are volunteering in protests and helping other victims simultaneously, their mental health state is improving, and they are healing from their trauma.

Conclusion

 The #MeToo movement helps and serves as a medium for survivors who experienced any sexual misconduct to break their silence by raising awareness, highlighting the impact of sexual misconduct on victims and breaking the stigma surrounding being a victim of sexual assault. The movement created a safe, supportive and united community for victims, allowing them to contribute to the global conversation, aiming to bring positive changes in society. With the help of the #MeToo campaign, survivors’ mental health is improving and healing when engaged in advocacy activism and helping other victims. The #MeToo is still an ongoing movement trying to bring equality in society and where everyone is safe and bring justice for the survivors by punishing the offenders and educating people about violence, harassment and the consequences from a young age.

References:

BBC News. (2020). Harvey Weinstein jailed for 23 years in rape trial. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51840532

Boyle, K., Glasgow., & Macmillan, P. (2019). #MeToo, Weinstein and feminism. Feminist Media Studies.21 337-339. https://www-tandfonline-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2020.1837452?scroll=top&needAccess=true

Campbell, R., Dworkin, E., & Cabral, G. (2009). An Ecological Model of the Impact of Sexual Assault On Women’s Mental Health. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10(3), 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838009334456

Crawley, K., & Simic, O. (2018). Telling stories of rape, revenge and redemption in the age of the TED talk. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal. https://journals-sagepub-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/doi/10.1177/1741659018771117

 Sambaraju, R. (2018). “I Would Have Taken This to My Grave, Like Most Women”: Reporting Sexual Harassment during the #MeToo movement in India. Journal of Social Issues. https://spssi-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1111/josi.12391

Hasunuma, l., & Shin, K. (2019). #MeToo in Japan and South Korea: #WeToo, #WithYou, Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 40:1, 97-111, DOI: 10.1080/1554477X.2019.1563416

Kornfield, S., & Jones, H. (2021). #MeToo on TV: Popular feminism and episodic sexual violence. Feminist Media Studies. https://www-tandfonline-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2021.1900314

Murphy, M. (2019). Introduction to “#MeToo Movement”. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy.31 issue 2-3. https://www-tandfonline-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/08952833.2019.1637088

Palmer, E, J., Fissel, R, E., Hoxmeier, J., &Williams, E. (2021). #MeToo for Whom? Sexual Assault Disclosures Before and After #MeToo. American Journal of Criminal Justice.46 68-106. https://link-springer-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/article/10.1007/s12103-020-09588-4#citeas

Roth-Cohen, O. (2021). Viral feminism: #MeToo networked expressions in feminist Facebook groups. Feminist Media Studies. https://www-tandfonline-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2021.1906295

Sambaraju, R. (2018). “I Would Have Taken This to My Grave, Like Most Women”: Reporting Sexual Harassment during the #MeToo movement in India. Journal of Social Issues. https://spssi-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1111/josi.12391

Strauss Swanson, C., Szymanski, D. M. & Kivlighan, D. M. (2020). From Pain to Power. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(6), 653–668.DOI: 10.1037/cou0000429.

Zebian, N.[@najwazebian]. (2017, October 16). And I was blamed for it. [Tweet]. Twitter

Zhongxuan, L., & Liu, Y. (2019). Individual and collective empowerment: Women’s voices in the #MeToo movement in China. Asian Journal of Women Studies. 25 117-131. DOI:10.1080/12259276.2019.1573002

22 thoughts on “#MeToo: Breaking taboos, raising awareness, empowering and uniting victims around the world

  1. Hello Rhabiya

    I found the topic of your paper very interesting how handling sexual harassment progress slowly and how social media help raising awareness and empowering them. Its interesting that you find that #metoo help uniting victim and help them get over their trauma from sexual harassment. I agree that sexual harassment victim should be more open so it can influence other people to be more empower. I found that people who get sexual harassment are young adolescence. It is in their age where they find it hard to be open to adults and keep the sexual harassment case to them self. #metoo may have help them to be empower and seek for help.

    On the other hand, sexual harassment can also happen in place of work. People are often seeking legal help when sexual harassment is involve. I found that filing sexual harassment law suit against people who you work with can ruin your career. This can bring down the reputation of the workplace as well the trust of their co-worker.

    I really enjoy the topic of your paper. Its well written and structure

    Best Regards
    Christopher Benson

  2. Hello Rhabiya, hope you are doing well. I have found your paper very insightful and interesting. I have heard a lot about #MeeToo, and its purpose but you have given me a better picture from providing great examples. So for that, hats off to such a good paper Rhabiya. Just like all others (I guess) in the comment section, I was also angry about the guy who only lost his job after committing such “decent” act I must say. This made me really angry, things like that should not be taken like a casual thing, who holds no value.
    As you have mentioned earlier, #MeeToo appeared in 2017 (4 years from now). According to a recent article I read on (i guess on Florida Alligator magazine), “(Huffington Post), 60 percent of male managers say they are uncomfortable with working closely with female workers. This includes working one-on-one, mentoring or even just socializing with female workers. That number was just 28 percent in 2018, when to the #MeToo movement first started. ” It seemed that men cared more about their workplace (dignity they holds there), rather than hiring women. After the rise of #MeeToo, men did not want to be close with other women in the workplace. Another thing that would sound ‘bullshit’ to your ears, is that men do not want to hire attractive women in the workplace. I wanted to ask you what is the degree of #MeeToo? Why people are still interpretating it wrongly?
    In order to clarify me, I would suggest you to reply me in respond to this article, https://www.alligator.org/article/2019/10/the-problems-that-come-after-metoo?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest

    Is #MeeToo really helping?

    Best,
    Mageswari

    Hoping to hear from you ASAP

    1. Hi Mageswari,

      I thought your comment was a perceptive addition to Rhabiya’s paper. It’s interesting how men are worried about hiring women in the workplace or working with women for fear of being charged for sexual misconduct of any form, instead of learning to control themselves and not harass or worse, rape, women. These men have convinced themselves that they are the victims.

      ” The #himtoo movement, which also emerged in the Kavanaugh hearings, created public service announcements such as, ‘Mothers of sons should be scared. It is terrifying that at any time, any girl can make up any story about any boy that can neither be proved or disproved, and ruin any boy’s life” (Banet-Weiser, 2021)

      Men are in powerful positions that allows their claims of defence to be amplified through official, or government channels, “those who can claim to be a truth-teller are often those in positions of power, including racial, economic, gendered, and colonialist power” (Banet-Weiser, 2021)

      ‘Asylum seekers are usually seen as suspect subjects who have to demonstrate that they really are in need of protection; yet, at the same time, they are considered as subjects incapable of telling the truth’. (Banet-Weiser, 2021)When a woman claims to have been raped, she is portrayed as a ‘suspect subject’, with women being cast as liars throughout history resulting in witch hunts.

      I think the best way to combat the issue is with education to young men of what is consent, how no means no and how to respect women instead of treating us like objects for their pleasure. Many young men have not had proper romantic or sexual interactions with females and are not taught how to engage in a respectful and consensual relationship, especially growing up in all boy’s schools. https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/singlesex-vs-coed-theory-behind-worrying-sexual-assault-trend-in-australian-schools/news-story/615a2f89349f66b356f61aaba313c099

      Banet-Weiser, S. (2021). ‘Ruined’ lives: Mediated white male victimhood. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 24(1), 60–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549420985840

      1. Hello Eva, I hope you are doing well !

        I am glad that you have given a thought about my views. The aspect about Asylum women being incapable to defend themselves because they are subjected as people who cannot speak the truth, because they are disregarded people who do not form part of the perfect societal community, made me very sad. It demonstrates that people still consider women as weak and vulnerable beings, and in the worst case (asylum women), they completely reject Women’s defense.

        You are proposing Education as a ‘fix’ to battle this issue, which is agreeable. However, when you take a closer perspective, don’t you think this education should start by educating parents at home? Upbringing has a huge impact on a person’s identity and behavior, and I truly believe that this form of education should start at home, since those children learn actions from what they are surrounded with (at home, family and at schools). If men are treating women through ‘such’ lens, perhaps this is an old belief they had because they witnessed the same thing at home.
        “According to this theory, parents model certain behaviors that children reproduce
        because they consider these behaviors to be appropriate and desirable. Parents also influence their children by reinforcing some behaviors through rewards encouragement, and discouraging other behaviors through punishment” (Martin, Cote and Woodruff, 2016). Therefore, this should be learnt as from home itself, and if some parents are into the lane of disrespecting people or judging people, perhaps a parental school should be set up, to preach and teach such values, so that the future generations do not have to face any dramas of rape, violation, sex abuse.

        What do you all think?

        Reference list:
        Martin, S. R., Côté, S., & Woodruff, T. (2016). Echoes of our upbringing: How growing up wealthy or poor relates to narcissism, leader behavior, and leader effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 59(6), 2157-2177.

        1. Hi Mageswari,
          I definitely agree that the education should be both in a specialised learning environment and at home. Learning does not end at the classroom door.

    2. Hello Mageswari,
      Thank you for reading and commenting on the paper, I really appreciate it.
      Indeed, It’s baffling to see that he only lost his job but I hope through the awareness that the movement is creating, more laws should be implemented so that justice is served.
      To answer your question, in relation to the referenced article, I believe they took this tack because men accused of the behaviour frequently claim they didn’t understand how their actions were being perceived, and think that women are overly sensitive. Those people are wrongly translating the meaning of the movement and like you said it’s absurd to see that they are reluctant on hiring ‘attractive women’ in fear of being accused which shows their sick mentality. The movement was created to raise awareness of the harassment situation that occurs everywhere and anywhere around the world that affects the victim’s life and creates empowerment for survivors and creates a safe environment. #MeToo has given a voice to victims for them to voice out about their experiences which were not something possible in the past as it was regarded as taboo now we can more advocating about it. With regards to the article if the men are not doing any disrespectful act I don’t see why they are afraid. I believe what can be further done to stop harassment, parents should educate their kids about it and make awareness campaigns at schools, workplaces etc to show how bad harassment affects victims.

      Hope I have replied to your question

  3. Hi Rhabiya,

    Your paper was really interesting to read and I am really happy you talked about the #Metoo Movement since I am really interested in this issue. I am glad that this movement exist to encourage victims (because it also happens to men) of sexual assault to come forward and tell their story which in turn would give way to justice. Though, not everyone would have the courage to still. The part where you talked about the Chinese student who committed suicide made me angry. He only lost his job! He should have been thrown in jail.
    I also want to note that this movement is also used for evil. It might not be as often but it is still something that needs to be talked about and hopefully avoided. What I mean is that the aggressor is the one who uses the #Metoo movement to shift the blame onto the victim (mostly like the aggressor being a woman). On the internet, a lot of people would believe someone without much proof especially with a hashtag as powerful as this one. It can ruin the whole message behind it. What do you think about that?

  4. Hello Rhabiya,

    I enjoyed reading your paper! Thank you!
    I never really thought about how online movements, like the #metoo movement, are quite powerful and are contributing to social change. You mentioned that such a community is “safe”- how far is it safe ? (considering that it is an online community and therefore, “visible”).

  5. Hi Rahbiya,

    Thank you so much for writing on this topic. Most women have a story of abuse or harassment in my experience so it really is an important topic.

    Your quote – “With the popularity of the of #MeToo movement, women are no longer silent and afraid to speak about their experiences”, I wanted to reflect on this and point out that while I think #metoo promotes open conversations about our experiences, I don’t think it is entirely accurate that women are no longer silent. It is true that there is a community of women that engage with #metoo on various platforms who share experiences and support one another, but there is also a community of women who are afraid or ashamed to speak up, sadly there is not enough known about how many, all we can do is know our own stories. Do you have any research that estimates how many women have been empowered by #metoo?

    You mention the Chinese student who committed suicide in the ’90s in comparison with today’s movement forcing her attacker to resign from his job. The power of online and physical communities has come together in this story proving how powerful we can be together even under communist governments. It is just a real shame that he wasn’t prosecuted and only lost his job.

    Thanks,
    Kristy

    1. Hi Kristy,

      I enjoyed reading your reflection on Rabhiya’s paper. I agree with your point that while #metoo promotes open conversations about our experiences, I don’t think it is entirely accurate that women are no longer silent.

      I used the #MeToo movement as an example in my paper on how social justice on social media can influence change in the real world, and can give you a statistic: the #MeToo hashtag was used more than 19 million times on Twitter since Milano’s initial tweet. That’s more than 55,000 uses of the hashtag per day (Beigi et al., 2018). So, while women are definitely ‘no longer silent’, social media has helped in a big way in connecting communities of women and exposing issues to the public eye.

      Thanks,
      Meg

      Reference:
      Beigi, G., Kambhampati, S., Liu, H., Manikonda, L. (2018). Twitter for Sparking a Movement, Reddit for Sharing the Moment: #metoo through the Lens of Social Media. arXiv preprint. https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.08022

  6. Hello Rhabiya,

    This paper has been written interestingly where it be grabbing scrutiny from readers.
    The way from how #MeToo started back in 2009, but finally became viral globally after 8 years. I would say it has been indeed a great leap towards women empowerment. A few years back, if a woman is sexually harassed, she would be looked down upon since its “shameful” for her. It’s like blaming the victims!

    However, am glad i came across this paper. I didn’t really know much indepth information about this #meToo movement. And the flow of writing is amazing, grabbing the attention of readers.

    Very good paper. Keep it up girl !

    1. Hello Mahima,
      Thank you for taking the time to read my paper and leaving a comment, I appreciate it.
      I’m glad you learned more information about the movement.

  7. Hi Rhabiya

    I enjoyed reading your paper and you brought up some really good points which I totally agree with. The increase in awareness of sexual assault ever since the #MeToo movement has been widespread and more people are talking about their experiences online, creating an atmosphere of comfort and community for those who are afraid to speak up.

    Twitter has been a huge accelerating factor in the rise of the movement, do you think the movement would have been successful in the offline world without the use of Twitter?

    I’ve written a paper on this topic as well, focusing on Twitter’s role in the #MeToo movement. I’d love for you to have a read and give some feedback https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/25/social-media-platforms-are-able-to-establish-online-sexual-harassment-communities-within-the-social-media-and-communities-stream-to-provide-significant-necessary-support-to-sexual-harassmen/

  8. Hi Rhabiya,

    I absolutely loved reading your paper. The way you described how this campaign grew into something so empowering is great. I agree with your point that compared to the past, now, women are aware that they should no longer be ashamed or guilty of being in such a vulnerable situation. The advocacy of ‘Me Too’ also opened the eyes of the society, letting them know that they should also fight against these perpetrators amongst them. Do you think more actions could be taken to promoting this movement in terms of the physical world and not only virtually?

    Here is my paper which is about unrealistic body image and facial appearance on social media:
    https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/26/unrealistic-body-image-and-facial-appearance-on-social-media/

  9. Hello Rabhiya !

    The way you approached this topic was very engaging. It was important to emphasise on this topic, since nowadays, what can be noted is that many young and vulnerable women in the society are facing sexual abuse and sexual harassment. As you mentioned in your paper, Tarana Burke did a great job in empowering those women who had endured sexual violence and such matter need to be heard so as to encourage other victims to voice out.

    However, according to your research, how does the #MeToo movement reflects on the victim’s identity ?

    Looking forward to your reply. If you are interested in reading more about Identity and Online advocacy, check out my paper and feel free to comment and share your thoughts.

    You can access my paper here: https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/27/the-lifestyle-and-fashion-influencer-community-on-instagram-stimulates-portrayals-of-identities-by-adjusting-and-adapting-to-fake-ones/

  10. Hello Rhabiya! I found your paper to be very interesting in the sense that it is encouraging more individuals to come forward.
    However, one of the major concerns for this movement is many individuals hate this movement too. This is because it is hard to know who is lying and who is telling the truth since there are many individuals who have not been harassed or assaulted and try to distort the facts, whether it is for personal or political reasons.
    These cases raise serious concerns since there are people who are being publicly criticized based on false claims that don’t get investigated by any judiciary and, in some cases, have no opportunity of being reviewed by any defendant. Despite this, they face risks that are as severe as many civil penalties. They cause irreversible damage to their credibility and sometimes end up losing their jobs as a result. There is still no system for them to protect themselves.
    What are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear back from you!

  11. Hi Rhabiya! I really enjoyed reading your paper! My paper mentions hashtag activism in social movements but it does not explore it into details. https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/26/from-slacktivism-to-activism-exploring-the-increase-of-youth-participation-in-online-social-movements-through-twitter/

    I was very interested by the way that you explored the impact of online activism, particularly the effectiveness of hashtags in the #Me Too movement. Online activism is often considered as not being ‘real activism.’ However, the case of the #MeToo movement is a prime example of the effectiveness of online activism at its best, empowering victims of sexual assault to speak up and showing them that they are not alone in their fight. I really liked how you said that the #MeToo movement has reversed the roles and helped women to stop feeling powerless anymore. However, do you think that social media is really a “safe” platform for the victims?

    Looking forward to hearing from you! You could also check out my paper if you are interested to read about the impact of online activism on youth participation.

    1. Hello Norine,
      First, I would like to thank you for taking your precious time to comment on my paper.
      I’m glad you found it interesting. Social media is basically interactive technologies that allow users to express themselves by sharing ideas, thoughts, information and other forms of expression through the building of virtual networks and communities and building connections at the same time. To answer your question, I believe there are two sides to every coin, social media is driving the latest wave of activism on sexual assault in the sense that there has been an avalanche of sexual assault disclosures on Twitter & other platforms where it is giving survivors a way to reclaim their voice and raise awareness and for some victims, it has been a first step to heal and connect with other survivors building a community, but there are definite risks associated with it. When disclosing their experiences, survivors are exposed to the risk of trolling.
      I believe it’s important for users to know that not everyone uses social media for good reason. Some use it to hurt others. They may engage with a survivor in a bullying, unsolicited, or non-consensual way. So in these cases, it’s important to report these accounts. And we should also spread more awareness on this topic and implement safety features on social media. For example, on Instagram, you can block comments from a specific user, hide offensive comments and filter specific words or phrases.
      Hope this answered your question.

      and I’ll make sure to check out your paper
      Best regards,
      Rhabiya

  12. Thanks for your paper. I agree that we are more accepting of women coming forward to report sexual harassment and assault than we were, although most still goes unreported.
    Is there a flip side? Do you think the continuing discussion about sexual assault and #metoo can be re-traumatising for survivors, as well as shining a light on this issue?

    1. Hello Sonia,
      Thank you for reading my paper. For my paper, I have focused only on the positive aspects that the movement brought. But definitely, everything has a positive and negative impact. For example, for some, it can trigger unwanted memories and cause anxiety when trolls are trying to hurt the victims by spreading hate and that is not good so what can be done to avoid such issues is to report those accounts and block them and filter the certain words that are triggering. For example on Twitter, there are apps you can use to block a hashtag, so it doesn’t show up in your feed and on Instagram, you can block comments from a specific user, hide offensive comments and filter specific words or phrases.
      In most cases though, most victims said that they were healing from the hidden pain that they were dealing with for years as previously they could not even mention the word of sexual harassment or being victims because society regarded it as a taboo but now with the movement they can express themselves and also empower and educate others and it has also helped build a community with the survivors where they can feel that they are not alone.

  13. Hi Rhabiya

    It was very interesting to read your paper, I enjoyed doing so. It has been a great movement in raising awareness of just how much sexual assault goes on in the world, and has helped women take a step forward. As can be seen in the case of the Peking University student you present, #MeToo is an instrumental tool in standing up for those harmed and calling out the assaulters.

    However, I would have to disagree with you when you say that because of #MeToo “women are no longer silent and afraid to speak about their experiences.” While I believe that #MeToo is a good thing and that many women have spoken up as a result, it has created some backlash for women socially and in the work environment. The Harvard Business Review provides statistics on how it is expected that men are becoming “more reluctant to engage with women at work in certain ways” (Harvard Business Review, 2019) including the exclusion of women from social interactions, which may be harmful to their chance to network and find job opportunities.

    The women who have been brave enough to come forwards and put themselves in the spotlight may have their reputation ruined by the lawyers of the accused assaulter, harming their chances in the work environment and becoming the shunned whistleblower behind the scenes (Luzio, 2019) after being applauded publicly. Germaine Greer says it well when she says “I’m really concerned that the women who have given testimony now will be taken to pieces” (Germaine Greer, 2018 as cited in Flood, 2018, para. 7).

    Good job on the paper, it was well written and structured!

    – Lily

    Flood, A. (2018, January 23). Germaine Greer Criticises ‘Whingeing’ #MeToo Movement. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/23/germaine-greer-criticises-whingeing-metoo-movement

    Harvard Business Review. (2019, September-October). The #MeToo Backlash. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/09/the-metoo-backlash#

    Luzio, C. (2019, April 28). MeToo’s Next Frontier: Addressing Backlash After Speaking Up. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/cateluzio/2019/04/28/metoos-next-frontier-addressing-backlash-after-speaking-up/?sh=6abb58d17529

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