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16th October 2017
03:18pm BST
The originators are hoping to highlight the magnitude of sexual assault by showing how many women have been assaulted. #MeToo is now trending on Facebook and Twitter with over 200,000 tweets using the hashtag including many celebrities.
This global movement comes in the wake of the scores of women sharing their stories of being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. Many Irish women have been also sharing their stories on social media along with the hashtag.
"Me too. First time as a teen in secondary school, groped between the legs by one of a gang of boys in the corridor as I was going to class. They shouted with laughter, I ran. I felt sick and humiliated. I never told anyone."
Globally one third of women experience physical or sexual violence.
In Ireland, the Eurobarometer survey found that 21 percent of Irish people think sex without consent (rape) is OK. The statistics show the scale of the problem, the #MeToo hashtag brings the reality of how many women in our lives have been assaulted.
Will the #MeToo hashtag stop men assaulting women? Probably not, however stories do have the capacity to change hearts and minds.
Podcast creator and blogger Dave says that hearing about how many of his women friends had experienced sexual assault was a real eye opener.
https://twitter.com/SaimaMohsin/status/919885594586738688
"This started a chain reaction in my mind of events that I would never have to experience. I would never have to text a friend to let him know I managed to make it home safe, I would never think twice about a drink that was bought for me..."
In order for things to change people have to change. Women are bravely speaking out and sharing their stories, now we need men to start listening and calling each other out on sexist comments and inappropriate behaviour.
https://twitter.com/EmmaRoseButler/status/919878934753406976
Dave believes the bar is set very low for men to be considered a "nice guy", he wrote a message to other men in a recent blog post,
"You can’t speak out about Harvey Weinstein while you simultaneously label every woman who rejects you as an absolute bitch.
"It is uncomfortable to call up your friends on this. It is uncomfortable to call up your family or work colleagues on it... If you think its uncomfortable for you to call them up on it, imagine being subjected to it."
https://twitter.com/Pappiness/status/919752795280027648
The hundreds of thousands of women sharing #MeToo have been subjected to it. The men of this world have two options ahead of them, continue on as normal and allow the women in their lives to be sexually assaulted or feel "uncomfortable" as they call out sexist mates.
It seems like a no-brainer but as the numbers show it would seem that the majority of men would just prefer to stay comfortable.Explore more on these topics:
