As I write these words relating to the sexual harassment of women in work and non-work environments, I’d like to say as a female of 19 years of age, having made several moves cross-country in the last three years and encountered people of all religions, nationalities, etc., I’ve been a victim of sexual harassment, as most girls of my age have. I do not speak of this to victimize myself or overshadow any other aspect of me.
Actually, I write this from heart and soul, empowered by my experience to stand out and speak against the trauma women experience every single day. It is an injustice, and awareness needs to be raised, which is why I say, yeah, #MeToo, #UsToo.
In light of the recent allegations against Hollywood film director, Harvey Weinstein, women all over the world have taken a stand to defend the women who spoke out against him and to share their own experiences with sexual harassment in professional and non-professional environments.
While some shared their experiences with Weinstein and other producers in recent months or years, other women spoke of experiences dating back to the 1990s. Let us just take a moment to appreciate just how empowering, brave, and amazing all these women are.
It takes immense courage to acknowledge to even myself that I’ve been harmed or harassed by an entity, let alone admit to a world of seven billion people. Putting yourself in a position of vulnerability and complete transparency is an incredibly humane thing to do, and it is a selfless act in the good of women equality.
When I first heard the news, I thought that the power, privilege, and network of Weinstein would come to his aid and this would be brushed off, similarly to countless cases before. This time is different because the world came to its senses and rushed to the crime scene.
The world, women, and men came to the defense of every person who has experienced harassment in any of its forms. It is a moment of pride where one could look back and think that the world isn’t such a bad place.
One might wonder why it took some of these women, even myself, so long to speak out and talk about our experience. Some, like myself, have tried to first forget that I was ever in such a situation. But it caught up to me eventually, because this is a lot bigger than one might think. Others were afraid, mocked even, and unfortunately ashamed (even though they shouldn’t be), of themselves and of the public’s reaction.
People tend to look at the situation like this: rather than dealing with the sickening roots of the problem, they look at the “symptoms.” The way a women dresses, talks, or even the way her hair is styled that day, all come into the conversation. “She was asking for it,” they’d say.
She was asking for it. How many times have we heard that phrase? How many times are we still going to hear this phrase, is the real question here. Objectifying the physical being of women is not the solution here, and singling out the way she chooses to represent herself is not acceptable, on any platform or work environment. Self-constraint, respect of boundaries, and acknowledgment of morale are all factors into resolving this issue, of course, after education.
Seeing an unlocked, unattended room filled with thousands of dollars, and being tempted to steal is not an excuse to actually steal the money. Simple analogy, but on a larger scale, it is similar in more ways than it is different.
My experience is a single dot on an infinitely-sized spectrum, and this article follows suit. It is never too late to speak up, to stand up for what you believe in, and to be the reason even one person is more aware.
To the women who spoke out, and didn’t speak out, to the women victims of sexual harassment in any of its forms, and to all the women of the world, I am proud of you, and we are all proud of you. This goes even to the men who have experienced sexual harassment, and who have stood by the women who did.
You are an empowering force of nature, and nothing anyone says or does can ever undermine that. It is time for a change, and it starts today.
