Opinion: Why MeToo still matters in the global battle against sexual assault
The recent trial and sentencing of Ghislaine Maxwell was both a grim reminder of the impact of sexual assault on survivors and a confrontation with the prevalence of sexual abuse at the most powerful levels of society.
The voices of survivors were key to the criminal process. In the courtroom, women now in their 40s broke down in tears recounting the violence they had suffered as teenagers at the hands of Maxwell and her instigator, the billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Their testimony was revelatory and damning.
These survivors’ voices joined the many that we now recognize as the driving force behind the movement we call “MeToo,” which has been gathering strength around the world. Women and others who previously suffered sexual harassment, discrimination and persecution in anguished silence are finding the courage to speak — and, even more important, they are being believed.
For centuries, sexual assault survivors have been discredited, discounted and stigmatized. The costs of coming forward have had a ruinous chilling effect, allowing violent predators to perpetrate sex crimes blatantly and relentlessly. These crimes were seldom prosecuted.
Even when survivors ventured to report their assaults, they were dissuaded from filing charges, their “consent” was questioned, and the process dragged out as rape kits went unanalyzed and evidence was invalidated. (To those who would question the credibility of women’s reports, U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that fewer than 8% of rape charges are unfounded; the numbers are similarly low in other countries.)
The physical, emotional and psychological trauma experienced by survivors has been devastating. Seeing the effects on girls of color, the Black feminist activist Tarana Burke first used the phrase “Me, too” to create spaces of solidarity and safety among survivors.
Burke’s work has had ripple effects, joining as well as catalyzing antirape activist movements in countries around the world. The Twitter hashtag #MeToo, launched by the actor Alyssa Milano in 2017, amplified these efforts in unprecedented ways. The hashtag generated more than 2.3 million tweets from 85 countries in its first week.
It’s important to emphasize that in many of these countries, antirape movements were already underway. As the movement has grown, sexual assault survivors across the globe have broken their silence to confront and challenge these crimes.
They are mobilizing on the ground, in cyberspace and through the courts. “MeToo” has become shorthand for a complex, transnational and revolutionary wave of intersectional feminist activism seeking to stop rape everywhere.
As hopeful as that is, the movement is also fraught with complexity. Criticized for having been hijacked by straight, white female celebrities, “MeToo” has been rightfully charged with overshadowing and minimizing the issues faced by survivors of color, those from LGBTQIA+ communities, those with disabilities, those from the global South, and other marginalized groups.
Moreover, the blowback and retraumatization experienced by those groups in speaking out is far greater than that experienced by rich and famous North American women.
To fully explore the variances, power dynamics and contexts of the “MeToo” movement against sexual assault, WorldCanvass will host a live discussion on Tuesday, from 5:30-7 p.m., featuring eight panelists from around the world. The virtual program, titled “The Global Implications of MeToo,” can be viewed through Zoom. For more information and to register, please visit https://international.uiowa.edu/worldcanvass-metoo
If you are a survivor, if you know someone who is a survivor, or if you would like to learn more and join the fight against sexual violence, please join us for the show. In speaking out, survivors are finding solidarity across borders and boundaries in an ongoing global movement to end sexual assault and harassment.
Meenakshi Gigi Durham is a professor and CLAS collegiate scholar at the University of Iowa.
If you are a survivor of sexual abuse or assault, you can find support and help by reaching out to any of these community resources:
Rape Victim Advocacy Program 319.335.6000 or 800.228.1625
Women’s Resource and Action Center 319.335.1486
Domestic Violence Intervention Program 800.373.1043
CommUnity Crisis Line 855.581.8111
Monsoon Asian and Pacific Islanders in Solidarity 515.288.0881
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Opinion: Why MeToo still matters in the battle against sexual assault
