Almost a month ago, former Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein was finally arrested after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him came to light in a New York Times article October 2017.
Weinstein turned himself into police May 25 following formal charges of rape and harassment stemming from incidents involving two different women.
He has been accused of intimidating and assaulting several dozen women — including Rose McGowan, Uma Thurman and Ashley Judd — over the course of his once lucrative career.
Despite all the assertions, Weinstein maintains his innocence, stating he has never engaged in non-consensual sexual behavior with anyone.
“He has entered a plea of not guilty and fully expects to be exonerated,” said Benjamin Brafman, Weinstein’s lawyer in a CNN article.
It’s great to be optimistic, but when over 80 women allege you assaulted or harassed them, that type of asinine thinking is completely foolish. How can that many people be lying?
In the wake of the allegations against Weinstein and others, a 2007 campaign created by social-activist Tarana Burke began to trend across various social media platforms — #MeToo.
Burke’s hashtag was popularized by actress Alyssa Milano, who tweeted a photo stating, “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem,” according to Twitter.
Milano’s tweet received almost 53,000 favorites, 25,000 retweets and 67,000 responses.
Weinstein’s fall from grace caused a domino effect that was felt throughout Hollywood, giving many others the confidence to call out their assailants and finally say #MeToo.
Actors Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman and Louis C.K. are among those who have been accused of sexual misconduct.
Some people have criticized what’s happening in Hollywood, calling it a “witch hunt” — a gross incomparable analogy.
To associate holding men accountable for their actions with the senseless victimization of several women is not only incredibly inaccurate, it’s ridiculous.
According to National Statistics on Sexual Violence, “Only about 2 percent of all sexual assault accusations reported to police turn out to be false. This is the same rate of false reporting as other types of violent crime.”
When any person comes forward with charges of sexual assault or harassment, their statements need to be treated with absolute validity until proven otherwise.
Survivors have suffered too long in silence out of fear and shame cultivated by a society that is too quick to throw stones.
Coming forward isn’t any easy thing, especially since sexual misconduct is such a deeply personal crime. We shouldn’t be damning these people, we should be celebrating their bravery.
No one should ever fear telling the truth after they’ve been violated, but they do because society has done so for centuries.
The only way we will get a handle on sexual misconduct is if we learn to listen to people when they call out the Harvey Weinstein’s of the world for their wrongdoings. If we don’t, the problem will only worsen — survivors deserve better.
Olivia Heersink can be reached at [email protected]
Cecil Ward
I suggest a polygraph on everyone making an accusation, and have that one administered by the CIA. Not the FBI, key words kids. Look at the statistical difference in complaints in police officers since the requirement and distribution of body cams. The #metoo movement is a farce, and many are using this for their own personal gains while those who have actually been sexually assaulted are suffering. Now, on that comment, I do agree for help and assistance for those who have been assaulted or harassed, nobody should have to go through that without the fair chance to prove their story through an independent organization, but with such a massive scale of complaints, it definitely needs to be properly sorted through before going viral.