#MeToo- It's Time For Women To Tell Their Stories

How a Hashtag Became a Rallying Cry Against Sexual Harassment of Women?

 "Me too" or "#MeToo" spread virally as a two-word hashtag used on social media in October 2017 to denounce sexual assault and harassment, in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein. The phrase, long used in this sense by social activist Tarana Burke, was popularized by actress Alyssa Milano, who encouraged women to Tweet it to publicize experiences to demonstrate the widespread nature of misogynistic behavior. Since then, hundreds of thousands have used the hashtag to come forward with their experiences, including many celebrities.

Thousands of women are sharing personal stories of sexual harassment under the hashtag or title "MeToo".The series of allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has prompted a social media campaign where thousands of women are sharing personal stories of sexual harassment under the hashtag or title "MeToo".Actress Alyssa Milano has sparked a huge outpouring with a simple Twitter request that women respond 'me too' if they have been sexually assaulted or harassed.Alyssa Wrote on her Twitter "If all 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 also twitted "If you've been sexually assaulted or harassed write 'me too' as a reply of this tweet." At the time of writing, more than 40,000 people replied to her tweet, making "#MeToo" a top trending topic. This included actors like Anna Paquin, Debra Messing, Laura Dreyfuss and Gabrielle Union. Singer Lady Gaga also tweeted the hashtag.Days earlier, another campaign - #WomenBoycottTwitter - spread in response to the temporary suspension of the account of actress Rose McGowan, after she had tweeted about Weinstein.

Impact and Reach of "#MeToo The phrase had been used more than 200,000 times by October 15, and tweeted more than 500,000 times by October 16. On Facebook, the hashtag had been used by more than 4.7 million people in 12 million posts during the first 24 hours.Tens of thousands of people replied Milano's tweet, including more than 20 celebrities.International response[edit] In addition to the United States, the hashtag trended in India, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. Variants of the phrase trended in France, using "BalanceTonPorc" (DenounceYourPig), which encouraged users to share the names of their alleged abusers. In Italy, women posted stories of assault and harassment under the hashtag #QuellaVoltaChe translated literally into "#TheTimeThat." The Spanish-language counterpart is "#YoTambien". In French Canada the campaign is done under the hashtag "#MoiAussi" (literally Me Too). In Sweden, several women used the hashtag to confront television presenter's Martin Timell alleged abuse towards them. All of his shows on TV4 were cancelled on 20 October 2017.