Graphic Made by Reyna Estrada via Canva
“Me too.” “You are not alone,” are some of the words that are pasted across the official Me Too movement website. This movement was started in 2006 with the mission of helping sexual assault survivors through their healing process.
Since the rise of the Me Too movement, many public figures such as Alyssa Milano, who is credited with helping to bring the movement to the public’s attention with her tweet, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”
Lady Gaga, Ashleigh Murray and Rose McGowan, among many others have also come forward.
The two simple words became to surface more regularly, on social media, in the news and various other platforms.
In addition to public figures, other women said they support the Me Too movement.
“Though Sexual violence is a challenging subject to talk about, sexual assault is a very real issue and it feels like it’s only getting worse and not being taken seriously,” said Aria Watson, a 21 year old activist and photographer from Seaside, Oregon.
“One in three women experience sexual violence in their life. I think the Me Too movement is very important,” she added.
According to statistics from rainn.org, out of 1000 cases of sexual assault, only about 230 are reported to police.
“The Me Too movement allows victims of all races, genders, sexuality, to band together and not feel so alone. And there’s power in numbers so our single voices aren’t drowned out,” said Malone Simmons a 21 year old sophomore music major at Loyola University.
Despite recent attention to the victims of sexual assault, some women said they believe there is still work to be done regarding how sexual assault cases are handled.
“I think we should hold people accountable and believe survivors when they come forward,” said Tania Arango a 21 year old Sociology student.
“We also need to set a national standard of sex education that includes consent, and start teaching consent at a young age. We live in a country that has a rape culture and we need to be better about getting rid of it,” she added.
A recent case that has sparked outrage is the ongoing Harvey Weinstein trial. Harvey Weinstein is currently being charged with raping a woman in a hotel room in 2013, as well as other charges of sexual assault.
The jury began deliberations in his trial on Feb. 18 2020 and the deliberations will continue again on Feb. 19.
“The Weinstein case is unfortunately just one of many stories where men in positions of power abuse women,” said Simmons, “He should be behind bars for the rest of his life so he doesn’t pose a threat to anyone anymore.”
For some women, the Harvey Weinstein case highlights many of the issues that America faces regarding sexual assault.
“Our country needs a total overhaul when it comes to sexual assault. We should have a mindset of protecting victims instead of protecting predators,” Simmons said.