The Silence Breakers

Time magazine has recognized the cultural revoking of this year and the #MeToo movement which represents the people who have started a worldwide discussion about sexual harassment and abuse.

“These silence breakers have started a revolution of refusal, gathering strength by the day, and in the past two months alone, their collective anger has spurred immediate and shocking results: nearly every day, CEOs have been fired, moguls toppled, icons disgraced. In some cases, criminal charges have been brought.”

Time admitted that the choice was inspired by the #MeToo hashtag, which was created over a decade ago by Tarana Burke. The hashtag became popular over the last months when a bunch of very high-profile men were publicly accused. Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein was the first of them. In October actor Alyssa Milano asked her fans to reply #MeToo if they were sexually harassed or assulted. More then 30,000 people had used the hashtag.

Shortly after the allegations against Harvey Weinstein and the tremendous explosion of the #MeToo hashtag, numerous people came forward to discuss their personal experiences with inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature or gender discrimination.

The #MeToo movement pointed to people who suffered from sexual harassment but didn’t get the attention necessary to have their voice heard. In February an Uber engineer Susan Fowler alleged sexual harassment and pervasive sexism at the Uber office. The $50 billion dollar global transportation company started investigation and fired 20 employees.

In August Taylor Swift, pop star won a court case against a former radio host for groping her in 2013. “Going to court to confront this type of behavior is a lonely and draining experience, even when you win, even when you have the financial ability to defend yourself,” Swift told Time.

The magazine mentioned people from different professions including actor, politician, entrepreneur, housekeeper and strawberry picker.