Impact of #MeToo Movement: A Study of Workplace Harassment Cases

This essay provides an overview of the Me Too Movement, which was initiated to raise awareness about sexual harassment and assault, particularly in the workplace. Founded by Tarana Burke in 2006 and gaining significant recognition in 2016, the movement empowers victims of sexual assault to speak out. The essay discusses research indicating widespread sexual harassment, including a BBC study showing that approximately 50% of women have experienced workplace sexual harassment. It highlights the movement's emphasis on empowerment through empathy and its impact on creating a community for survivors to share their experiences. Real-world cases, such as those involving McDonald's and MJ Akbar, are examined to illustrate the movement's influence. The essay concludes that the Me Too Movement has played a crucial role in changing mindsets, promoting a positive culture in the workplace, and empowering women to address unethical actions, fostering peace and harmony in society.

Me too movement

Me too movement
#Me too movement
In this paper, the discussion will be made on #ME TOO MOVEMENT. #ME TOO
MOVEMENT is basically a movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault. The
movement was introduced in 2006, to boost the awareness of the individuals about the sexual
assault and harassment in the companies. This concept was founded by Tarana Burke with the
motive of helping the survivors of sexual harassment. #ME TOO MOVEMENT started gaining
recognition in October 2016 after the Alyssa Milano case. The actress posted on Twitter by
asking the victims of the sexual assault to speak and accept the bitter truth of the society. So, the
first phase of the paper will highlight the research conducted by the BBC and in the further
phases the cases of McDonald's and MJ Akbar will be elaborated. The last phase will be the
concluding part, in which the overall analysis of the paper will be made.
According to the research conducted by BBC, approximately 50% of the women had
faced the issue of sexual harassment at workplace. Also, “RAINN”, the USA’s biggest anti
sexual violence company, reports 310 cases of the rape to the police. Therefore,
#METOOMOVEMENT focuses on the number of women who are negatively impacted by the
sexual abuse in the workplace (CHANGE, 2019).
(Source: CHANGE, 2019).
Tarana Burke, an American social activist organizer introduced this movement by using
the phrase #ME TOO and also there are many celebrities who are involved in this movement like
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Me too movement
Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd and Uma Thurman (Indianews, 2019). The main motive behind
the concept of #ME TOO MOVEMENT is to focus on "empowerment through empathy". It is
created so that it can be easy to ensure the survivors that they are not alone in this journey. On
Facebook, there are more than 44.7 Million people who used the Hash-tag in 12 million posts.
There are many celebrities who are involved in this movement like Lady Gaga, Monica
Lewinsky, Anna Paquin, Rachel Wood and Debra Messing and they supported this movement in
a positive manner (Hosterman, Johnson, Stouffer & Herring, 2018).
#ME TOO MOVEMENT empowered the women to build a community and to assist each
other in sharing their views and opinion related to sexual abuse which is taking place in the
world. This movement has also assisted the victims to fit in society. Through #ME TOO
MOVEMENT, the awareness among the women is raised in relation to the rights of the people in
the workplace and it has assisted the men to understand the overall consequences if the issue
related to sexual harassment enhances. The concept helped to bring out the truth about the men
like Harvey Weinstein and also of the other men’s like him who maintained justice in the
society.
Through #ME TOO MOVEMENT, the support was given to the people who suffered
from the issue related to sexual harassment. One of the cases related to #ME TOO MOVEMENT
was of McDonald's in which the female worker said that their managers and bosses touch their
breasts many times and also rubbed their genitals against her butt. The proposal was also given
by the managers through the message in which it is said that they will offer $1,000 for oral sex.
One of the cases was of MJ Akbar who resigns from the union minister position. The allegation
made on MJ Akbar forced him to resign from his post as the charges of the harassment has been
opened against the women journalists. MJ AKBAR resigned from the post as it has been seen
that the image of Akbar was spoiled just because of the allegation on him. Also, Priya Ramani
put the allegation on the Akbar and there are many other women's who supported her (Nair,
2019).
According to Pew research, there are mainly two kinds of #MeToo movement interaction
that existed. In this, the first is of the celebrities and the second one is concerned with the
personal stories. Approximately, 29% of the interactions were on the #MeToo and about71% of
tweets was in English language. Google has also created the website in which the focus was on
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Me too movement
the #METOO rising trends on the global platform. Google declared that in 195 countries the
concept related to #MeToo was searched in the last one year. This concept has also gained
momentum on Twitter and Facebook. Also, it is one of the most popular topics discussed on
Instagram with more than 15 lakh posts.
In India, #MeToo campaign was started on 7 October when the actor Tanushree Dutta
made allegation on Nana Patekar in relation to the shoot of the film “HORN OK PLEASSS" and
approximately 10 years ago, this film was created. From that time the controversy has been
engulfed in the society. This controversy has reduced the cases of sexual harassment and also
helped in boosting the knowledge of the citizens. Through this moment the awareness of the
women is boosted and it assisted them to take a strong step against the actions which are not
right and also which are not favored by the society. It boosted the confidence level of the
women, to raise their voice towards the unethical actions done by them in society.
Therefore, it can be concluded that #MeToo movement is considered as one of the best
approaches that have maintained peace and harmony in society. By considering this concept, it is
declared that the mindset of the people has been changed and positive culture has been boosted
in the workplace. Now, the women’s in the workplace are secured and they are giving their best
towards the organizational activities. It is examined that #MeToo movement has become one of
the popular news on the global platform and the motive behind this movement was to empower
through empathy and by letting the women know that they are not alone in the journey. #MeToo
movement concept is essential for the society as it helps the survivors of the sexual violence and
specially the women’s from low wealth communities. It is considered as the pathway for them to
heal the issues faced by them.
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Me too movement
References
CHANGE . (2019). The #MeToo Movement & Its Impact on The Workplace. Retrieved from:
https://www.changerecruitmentgroup.com/knowledge-centre/the-metoo-movement-its-
impact-on-the-workplace
Hosterman, A. R., Johnson, N. R., Stouffer, R., & Herring, S. (2018). Twitter, Social Support
Messages, and the# MeToo Movement. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 7(2), 69-
91.
Indianews . (2019). One year of #MeToo movement, 8 interesting things to know. Retrieved
from: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/one-year-of-metoo-movement-8-interesting-
things-to-know-1368727-2018-10-16
Nair,S . (2019). The Importance Of Listening.Retrieved from:
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/metoo-movement-india-sexual-
harassment-timesup-5396304/
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