Story Like Mine

Woman have been speaking out about sexual violence and a movement has sparked because of it.

Meghan Voegtlin, Public Relations Editor|October 26, 2018

The first annual Woman’s March was held on Jan 21, 2017 on every continent.

Founded in 2006, the MeToo movement has made incredible progress in getting women to find help regarding sexual violence. Women all over the world have been coming forward and starting a conversation about their stories and what can be done to prevent these events from happening. In recent news, there have been numerous television hosts that have faced these accusations. Alongside these hosts, many other celebrities have been accused of these horrible acts.

On Sept. 9, 2018, 12 women came forward and accused the CBS Chairman Les Moonves of harassment and assault. Moonves kept his job for several weeks after the accusations surfaced, unlike former NBC News broadcaster, Matt Lauer and former PBS and CBS anchor, Charlie Rose, who were fired within days, according to marketwatch.com.

“Under CBS’s employment contract with Moonves, the company could have fired Moonves for cause with no severance package or settlement,” Market Watch writer Elizabeth Tippett said, according to marketwatch.com. “The definition of cause included a willful and material violation of any company policy, including the harassment policy.”

Similar news in May surfaced that Nike’s widespread allegations of harassment and discrimination against the female employees after five executives and 11 senior managers left the company. The employees’ departure resulted in Nike having an investigation into workplace behavior, according to nytimes.com.

“The latest moves come a little more than a week after The New York Times, using interviews with more than 50 current and former Nike employees, reported on women’s complaints of being marginalized, harassed and thwarted in their careers at the company, and about indignities that included humiliating visits to strip clubs and unwanted kisses,” New York Times writers Julie Creswell and Kevin Draper said, according to nytimes.com. “Many of those interviewed said when they took their grievances to human resources, they did not seem to be taken seriously.”

However, now there are many people who are coming forward and sharing their stories, which can help others find the courage to join the movement. Since the MeToo movement started, many celebrities have spoken out about their experiences and have taken advocacy to the cause. Singer Ashley Frangipane, also known as Halsey, shared her own emotional story of sexual harassment and abuse at the 2018 Women’s March in January.

“It’s 2018 and I’ve realized nobody is safe long as she is alive,” Frangipane said in her poem “A Story Like Mine.” “And every friend that I know has a story like mine, and the world tells me we should take it as a compliment.”