#MeToo: What’s next?

The social-media phenomenon has helped to break a culture of silence about sexual harassment and abuse. The conversation has started, but will the movement toward more concrete action continue?

In the three weeks since the #MeToo hashtag started going viral on social media, Facebook users have posted it more than 12 million times in 85 countries.

Dozens of Times Colonist readers have submitted their stories of unwanted sexual advances, harassment and abuse. The conversation has started. So, now what? It’s time to recognize the limitations of the social-media campaign and think about concrete actions, some observers say.

“It’s quite phenomenal, the way people have engaged in conversation and come forward,” said Annalee Lepp, associate professor of gender studies at the University of Victoria.

“But like all social-media phenomena, we wonder: Will this last for the next few weeks, until something else happens that captures people’s attention? So the question is always: What’s next?”

Plenty of campaigns fizzle out once a new trend captures public attention. And a 2013 University of British Columbia study on “slacktivism” found would-be donors are actually less likely to take real-world action and make a donation after they click the virtual “like” button on a cause.

Lepp said the greatest success of the movement is probably that it has registered just how far-reaching the problem is and started a conversation about power within institutions, workplaces, families and friend circles.

“That’s really important. It has broken the culture of silence that often creates the conditions under which sexualized violence can flourish with impunity,” she said.

It’s important to identify ways people can intervene if they see harassment in their workplace, for example, and make people feel safer reporting incidents, Lepp said.

Lepp, who was involved in developing UVic’s sexualizedviolence policy, said one concrete trickle-down could see similar policies implemented in elementary and secondary schools.

It’s important to recognize that the stories shared publicly are only the ones people felt most comfortable sharing.

While we talk about the need for everyone to participate in the conversation, not everyone is capable of doing so, said Linda Amy, manager of direct client services at the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre.

And while some have found it empowering, it has triggered others in a different stage of their journey, she said.

“I’ve spoken with survivors who say it’s very difficult that this movement is happening, because they open their Facebook feeds and the topic is all around sexualized violence,” Amy said.

“They can’t have a break from it.”

Much of the support network for survivors exists in the nonprofit world, so Amy said one concrete action is writing letters to government calling for more funding for additional support services.

Special Victims Unit Sgt. Kristi Ross said Victoria police have received more reports of sexual assault and harassment since the campaign started.

“I think whenever there is a case in the news, whether it be the #MeToo campaign or the Jian Ghomeshi trial, we do get some more files that come through,” she said.

What’s under-reported, she said, is the prevalence of men who experience sexual violence.

Jane Sterk, executive director of the Cowichan Women Against Violence Society, said she hopes the #MeToo movement leads to more successful convictions of offenders.

“For organizations like ours, it’s leading to internal conversations. As an agency, what is our responsibility in supporting women who are part of the #MeToo movement and what does that support look like?” she said.

The organization is also considering public education campaigns to help continue the conversation, she said.