#MeToo throws new spotlight on International Women’s Day
PARIS: As the world marks International Women's Day this week, it remains to be seen whether campaigns such as #MeToo and #Timesup can really advance the fight for women's rights and gender equality worldwide or whether their effects will be more transitory.
The #MeToo and #Timesup campaigns that went global last October when allegations of sexual misconduct by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein coincided with a number of other major advances in women's rights worldwide.
In September, for example, Saudi Arabia announced that the prohibition on women driving would be lifted starting from June this year.
Then in January, Saudi women were also allowed to attend a football match for the first time.
And in Iran, a spate of unprecedented protests have taken place since December against clothing rules for for women.
Migrant and refugee crisis Christine Mauget, in charge of international matters at France's Family Planning agency, said that the migrant and refugee crisis also highlights how much still needs to be done in the area of women's rights.
“Women are forced to migrate for economic reasons, war or due to climate change, and find themselves in camps where they are not respected, on routes where they are violated,” she said.
Genevieve Fraisse, a French philosopher and writer on feminist thought, believes the Weinstein affair and its repercussions will act as a “catalyst” for equality.
“It is in situations of economic dependence that women are victims of violence,” she said.