Sexual abuse stories from around the world
Celebrities and everyday people flooded social media with personal accounts of sexual assault and harassment Monday, responding to calls to break the culture of silence around such abuse.
The massive global response was triggered by allegations recently made public against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is accused of rape and abuse dating back decades. People shared stories and offered support under multiple hashtags, including #MeToo in English, #balancetonporc (“Rat out your pig”) in French, and #quellavoltache (“That time that”) in Italian.
American actress Alyssa Milano sparked the outpouring with a simple Twitter request Sunday that women respond “me too” if they have also been sexually harassed or assaulted. Tens of thousands of people replied, making #MeToo the top trending topic. The posts continued to accumulate Monday, with the intensity of the social media response sharply underscoring the problem’s breadth — implicating fashion, entertainment, politics and the lives of everyday people.
Monica Lewinsky — who was at the center of the White House sex scandal in the 1990s leading to the impeachment trial of former US President Bill Clinton — simply tweeted the hashtag #MeToo without comment. Source: AFP
