Early this October, reports of Harvey Weinstein sexually harassing and assaulting multiple women in the industry became public. At the time, movie producer of The Weinstein Company, Weinstein admitted to many of the accusations and since then has triggered the ousting of many other well-known men of the entertainment industry of sexual misconduct. Dubbed as the Weinstein ripple effect, actresses, female comedians, producers, writers and such have stepped up from the shadows to accuse big names.

Many of these men are popular and well known to the industry such as Matt Lauer of NBC news, Charlie Rose of CBS and PBS, “Transparent” actor Jeffery Tambor, comedian and actor Louis C.K., actor Ed Westwick, “House of Cards” actor Kevin Spacey, former President George H.W. Bush, actor Ben Affleck, and more have been accused and many of them have been either fired or suspended from their jobs.

This ripple effect is extremely important at a time when women are stepping up and expressing their #MeToo stories because it gives them a safe space and a sense of security that they can be believed. Throughout history, women have been discredited and told to keep quiet about their experiences, so much so that they would actively keep these experiences quite for fear they would lose their jobs or not be able to get ahead in their work.

While it doesn’t put a stop to this trend of men in power committing sexual misconduct, The Weinstein effect is definitely a big game changer in the industry. Suddenly men are expressing fear of being accused and lashing back at how “unfair” these accusations are. How can someone such as a man who has done nothing wrong and committed none of these crimes express such fear of being accused? Most likely because they are perpetrators themselves.

The voices of women are finally being heard, the men who have committed these crimes are finally being condemned. This is a scary time for anyone who is or has abused their power in society to take advantage of women. Well-known actresses like Lena Headey, Lupita Nyong’o, Cara Delevingne, Angelina Jolie, and many more women have stepped up and accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct.

This is important because it is giving power to women and female identifying people that they do have the option of reporting these incidences. It is unfortunate that these women had to experience such horrors, but now we are creating a safer environment and society that takes these things seriously. Men are scared of being persecuted for their past inappropriate behaviors and women are feeling more secure in taking a stand for themselves and other women.