The #MeToo (R)Evolution

Women, finding no recourse to sexual assault and harassment, take matters in their own hands

- Mihira Sood

THE ‘ME TOO’ MOVEMENT STARTED as early as 2006 when American gender rights activist Tarana Burke first used the phrase to highlight the pervasiveness of sexual assault and harassment, particularly in the workplace. In October 2017, the phrase went viral as a social media hashtag, when Hollywood actor Alyssa Milano encouraged women to use it to tell their stories and help people understand the magnitude of the problem. It was in the same month that The New York Times published an investigative story on decades of sexual abuse by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, which broke a dam of further accusations against him, led by American actor Rose McGowan.

This was perhaps the point when the movement went from women naming themselves as survivors to women naming the men who had violated them. And with this shift, the movement went from a social media trend, enjoying widespread support and empathy, to front page news and deeply polarizing conversations about its methods and consequences.