Women break their silence on sexual abuse

> People from around the world share their stories on social media

WASHINGTON: Celebrities and everyday people flooded social media with personal accounts of sexual assault and harassment on Monday, responding to calls to break the culture of silence around such abuse.

The massive global response was triggered by allegations recently made public against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is accused of rape and abuse dating back decades.

People shared stories and offered support under multiple hashtags, including #MeToo in English, #balancetonporc (“Rat out your pig”) in French, and #quellavoltache (“That time that”) in Italian.

American actress Alyssa Milano sparked the outpouring with a simple Twitter request on Sunday that women respond “me too” if they have also been sexually harassed or assaulted.

Tens of thousands of people replied, making #MeToo the top trending topic.

The posts continued to accumulate on Monday, with the intensity of the social media response sharply underscoring the problem’s breadth – implicating fashion, entertainment, politics and the lives of everyday people.

Monica Lewinsky – who was at the centre of the White House sex scandal in the 1990s leading to the impeachment trial of former US president Bill Clinton – simply tweeted the hashtag #MeToo without comment.

Lady Gaga and Sheryl Crow were among those from the music world tweeting their support.

Crow shared her experience of improper behaviour by a manager “on my first big tour as a backup singer”.

“When I went to a lawyer, he told me to suck it up bc the guy could do a lot for me,” Crow tweeted, “so I wrote songs about it on my first record”.

Actress Evan Rachel Wood wrote of being raped more than once, tweeted: “I instinctually shut down. My body remembered, so it protected me. I disappeared.”

“Molested by a family member. Raped as a kid and an adult. Became a drug addict and then overcame. Don’t ever give up. I’m here#MeToo,” tweeted a woman identified as Amy Christensen.

There were many sympathetic responses from men.

Vinay Ramesh, a tech entrepreneur, encouraged “all my fellow men to learn about #MeToo. The responsibility to stop sexual violence is absolutely on us.”

Italian actress Asia Argento, who has accused Weinstein of sexual abuse, offered another bombshell, saying a Hollywood director had raped her and that an Italian director had exposed himself to her when she was a minor.

In France, the top-trending hashtag #balancetonporc, started by journalist Sandra Muller, brought forth stories from women of being sexually harassed at work or in the street.

Muller recounted how her former boss had called her “my type of woman” and then commented on her breasts.

Similar stories spread in the Arab world, from Tunisia to Egypt and Dubai, describing incidents suffered by women at work or in public spaces. – AFP