It's been five years since The New York Times first launched stories spotlighting years of abuse and harassment by movie producer, Harvey Weinstein. The stories helped make the #MeToo movement go viral around the world.. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images
Author: To read Jaclyn Diaz' article, please click here.
The #MeToo Movement was created by Burke in 2006 as a way to empower people who had beensexually assaulted and harassed.
Kimberly Hamlin, a feminist history scholar at Miami University, said women and other assault survivors are continuing to speak out, five years after the Weinstein story broke the long-standing seal on silence.
"The generations-long culture of silence is over," Hamlin said. "The tide has turned from giving abusers a free pass, to listening to and believing survivors and silence breakers. I really feel that we cannot overestimate how big of a shift this is culturally, psychologically, legally. For generations, women have been told, 'Suck it up. Keep it to yourself. That's just how things are. It's your fault.'"
"We are no longer raising our children to just be nice," she said. "[Or to think] 'just don't say anything.' And this is a watershed change."
It's thanks to survivors, who haverefused to remain silent and have come forward, that allegations have been broughtagainst more people in Hollywood, the music industry, churches, media, and politics.
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