There’s sexual harassment over here and you shouldn’t conflate it with rape. Which is true; those are two very different things. But they’re on the same spectrum. Sexual harassment is like the gateway drug. It’s the entry point.
Catalog
Tarana Burke
Tarana Burke is an American civil rights activist. She is known for being the first to use the phrase "Me Too", in 2006, to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society. The phrase has since developed into a broader movement. Time named Burke, among a group of other prominent female activists dubbed "the silence breakers", as the Time Person of the Year for 2017. She is currently Senior Director at Girls for Gender Equity. 2Biography Burke was born and raised in Queens, New York. As a teenager, she became involved in working to improve the lives of young girls living in marginalized communities. In 2008, she moved to Philadelphia to further her work as an activist. She worked at Art Sanctuary Philadelphia as well as at other non-profits. She was a consultant for the Hollywood movie Selma, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by James Bevel, Hosea Williams, Martin Luther King, J
I don’t think that every single case of sexual harassment has to result in someone being fired; the consequences should vary. But we need a shift in culture so that every single instance of sexual harassment is investigated and dealt with.
Our work is about supporting survivors by providing resources for healing and action. If in the course of that process a perpetrator is held accountable for their actions - so be it. But our goal is not to ‘take down’ individuals it’s to dismantle systems that give them cover.
Women have been speaking up for years about harassment and abuse. 'Me Too' has just created cover for those who didn’t feel safe enough to speak up. The movement didn’t *create* the concept of speaking out. it just allowed people to hear us better as a chorus and not a solo.
The movement is about people owning their truth and releasing the shame associated with sexual violence. That is not a NEW concept. What’s new is that there is some accountability now.