When the #MeToo campaign that activist Tarana Burke created over 10 years ago finally went viral last week via Alyssa Milano's Twitter, the intent was to bring awareness to the prevalence of sexual assault and to provide a safe healing space for survivors and allies to support each other.

Countless women began to flood all social media platforms with the hashtag, offering their support for fellow survivors and many sharing their own experiences with sexual harassment and sexual assault. Some only posted an image bearing the hashtag or tweeted the hashtag alone, while many even accompanied it with a selfie symbolizing their refusal to allow their experience with harassment or assault prevent them from living a powerful life.

Scrolling through the hashtag and even seeing how many people on my own social media feeds were posting #MeToo was absolutely staggering.

I believe that most of us knew that sexual harassment and sexual assault is a prevalent problem within our society, but seeing how many women and men used the hashtag from firsthand experience over just the weekend puts the massive scope of the issue in heartbreaking perspective.

As I continued to read #MeToo posts over the past week, through the messages of love and support it became impossible to ignore the hateful replies and comments that began to appear on many tweets and Instagram posts.

I came across many posts from celebrities and even non-famous women who simply posted the hashtag, and declined to share a detailed personal story about her reasoning behind the post.

In the comment sections of posts like this, especially from celebrities, I began to see comments like, "Are you a survivor of sexual violence or assault? I noticed you used the #MeToo hashtag in your 'stories' but didn't accompany it with a story."

Or much more vile comments from women calling other women "disgusting" and saying things like that they should be "ashamed of themselves" for choosing to post the hashtag accompanying a selfie of themselves wearing makeup or looking pretty.

While some of the comments could seem harmless if ignored, they truly symbolize what the #MeToo hashtag is trying to bring awareness to.

Victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault are survivors, and their stories are none of the public's business.

Unless they choose to make it so, on their own terms.

Everyone heals in different ways, and just because one person is comfortable with talking about a traumatic experience that happened to them a month ago, another person could still not be comfortable addressing something they experienced over 10 years ago, and that is perfectly fine.

Women, especially women with such a topic such as sexual assault and sexual violence, should be the first ones to offer support for each other when we see this hashtag, even if we do not know why someone chose to use it. Asking friends or even strangers to elaborate on experiences they are clearly not comfortable with sharing is not a display of allyship.

Women deserve to feel powerful, and should not be labeled "attention/fame seekers" for using the hashtag with something like a beautiful selfie.

As an ally, I believe that all survivors heal in their own way, and all women express themselves in their own way. Women do not owe you anything for our existence, and survivors never owe you their stories.