From darkness of shame into light of anger

WHEN the Harvey Weinstein story erupted in October, it may have looked like another Hollywood sex scandal.

But it set the #Metoo flame alight that has now become a global forest fire — one that is burning ever more brightly across the Atlantic.

In Westminster, sexually abusive politicians are no longer guaranteed protection by their power. In Mayfair, the Presidents Club has been disbanded.

In creating this sea-change, the bravery of the actor Rose Mcgowan, who dared speak out about Weinstein, and those who followed her, is everything.

But the turning-point for ordinary women followed a month later on November 12 when a group of Latina farmworkers in the US wrote a beautiful letter of solidarity to their Hollywood sisters, triggering #Timesup.

The Alianza Nacional de Campesinas stated: “We do not work under bright stage lights or on the big screen. We work in the shadows of society, but we share a common experience of being preyed upon by individuals who have the power to hire, fire, blacklist.” Now, in every office, every supermarket and every gathering in every land, women are talking about what happened to them — and saying “Me too”.

And as we move from the darkness of shame into the light of anger, there is no longer a way back to before October 2017.