Just because nobody says anything doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
We tend to live in a society that tends to put a “hush hush” on sexual assault and sexual harassment.
This can be seen with the emerging accusations against public figures such as President Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacy, Charlie Sheen and, most recently, comedian Louis C.K.
Just because nobody said anything doesn’t mean sexual assault or sexual harassment didn’t happen.
With the #MeToo movement, the victims that are being silenced have gained a way to have their voices heard. Because guess what? Sexual assault and sexual harassment doesn’t just occur among public figures. It can happen to anybody, at any time, by anyone.
The #MeToo movement started 10 years ago, when activist Tarana Burke decided to start posting about her issues while using the hashtag, according to cnn.com. After 10 years, the hashtag has taken the social media world by storm, especially after actress Alyssa Millano tweeted a call-out to victims to give people the sense of how big the problem is.
This hashtag is important, because it’s bringing a topic that’s been silenced into the everyday conversation on Twitter, and it’s bringing awareness. Awareness is the first step to working on solutions for a problem. Because sexual assault and harassment is a problem that needs to be solved.
When we live in society that puts men like Trump, who constantly gets accused of such things, on a pedestal, it shows we do not care about the victims that spoke up. It shows that we will continue to let things out of awareness, so the people we like can continue to do their job.
We need to care. The fact that #MeToo is exploding like it is shows that this issue is important to the public and the news media, and it needs a solution. For everyone that is posting about their experience, there’s more people hidden behind them, not posting about it. Just because people may not post their experiences doesn’t mean they didn’t happen.
It takes a certain amount of bravery to come forward on issues that society tries to cover up. Like mental health issues, sexual harassment isn’t the most visible subject. People need to stop pretending just because they haven’t seen something that it isn’t an issue.
#MeToo is showing people that sexual assault and sexual harassment is an issue. It’s started the conversation, but it’s up to us to continue it.
Published in: https://issuu.com/therambler/docs/nov._15_book
Hannah Onder 