LET’S STRIVE FOR FUTURE OF ‘NOT ME’

What have the misdeeds of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein got to do with the lives of ordinary people north of the border?

The answer can be summed up in two little words: “Me too.”

Women from Saskatchewan and across Canada have been posting this phrase on Facebook and using it as a Twitter hashtag to indicate they have experienced harassment and assault.

“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,” wrote actress Alyssa Milano in starting the movement. It has taken off like wildfire, with Canadian women joining the campaign in droves.

Statistics support the idea that harassment is still a common part of a woman’s life. According to numbers provided by Statistics Canada, one in three women will experience some form of sexual violence in her lifetime. A 2014 Angus Reid survey estimated more than one million working Canadians have experienced sexual harassment at work within the last two years. The vast majority of these people are women.

Canada’s prime minister is offering leadership on the world stage when it comes to this issue. In an essay written for Marie Claire magazine, Justin Trudeau wrote that he is raising his two sons — as well as his daughter — to be feminists.

“All of us benefit when women and girls have the same opportunities as men and boys — and it’s on all of us to make that a reality,” he wrote. “That world doesn’t exist yet. But it can be built. That’s the world we want our kids to live in.”

Trudeau also used a visit to the Mexican senate to speak to this issue, and promote the introduction of a “gender chapter” into the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“Violence against women and girls is prevalent in all facets of life, from the studios of Hollywood to the digital public squares, our halls of Parliament,” Trudeau said. “As a gender-balanced Senate, I challenge you to use your position and power to strongly push for the rights of women and girls in Mexico and around the world.”

There is no doubt that sexual harassment and assault remain issues for all Canadians. The first step is acknowledging that the behaviour is widespread. Men and women all have a role to play in stepping in and speaking out when they see this kind of behaviour. Perhaps we can soon decrease the “me too” posts and increase the number of women who can say “not me.”