Words by Shanice Stephanie


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A simple hashtag, ‘Me Too’ became a viral outcry from women and some men all over via social media. On Sunday October 15th actress Alyssa Milano tweeted a photo that read, “Suggested by a friend: 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.” She then proceeded to tweet, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”

This whole ordeal was in response to the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Within hours over 200,000 ‘me too’ tweets were published by Twitter’s count. By Monday morning the growing hashtag found its way to Facebook. Women everywhere began flooding timelines with brief but painful personal stories of their experience with sexual assault and harassment. Their messages brought on lots of mixed emotions. Some were shocking, saddening, welcoming and heartfelt.

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“#MeToo I have been raped twice in my life, stalked four times, and was threatened with my life when I tried to speak out @ 14”

“#MeToo. For a while I couldn’t stand people standing behind me after my assault. I felt like I had to look behind me. Sometimes I still do”

“#MeToo. Harassed at work at multiple companies, stalked, assaulted…. Almost all of my friends have similar stories. We need to speak up.”

“#MeToo as a child by a family friend”

“#MeToo. At 22 by an old white wealthy owner of a business I was employed. He was a ‘deacon’ in his church.”

“#MeToo In sixth grade, a group of boys held me up against a wall as they pulled up my shirt to see if I stuffed my bra with charmin or bounty.”

Reading all of these tweets and Facebook posts just shows you how much of us are or have suffered in silence. Although it’s just the beginning, Alyssa Milano’s twitter rant provided a platform for women and men to feel comfortable and liberated to come forward and share their experiences. “Let’s be the change we wish to see.” Coincidentally, October just so happens to be National Domestic Violence Awareness month, so the ‘me too’ social campaign is gaining traction at just the right time.