Opinion | #MeToo Has Done What the Law Could Not

This mass mobilization against sexual abuse, through an unprecedented wave of speaking out in conventional and social media, is eroding the two biggest barriers to ending sexual harassment in law and in life: the disbelief and trivializing dehumanization of its victims.

— Catharine A Mackinnon, nytimes.com

Justice Law MeToo #metoo Sexual Assault

It is widely thought that when something is legally prohibited, it more or less stops. This may be true for exceptional acts, but it is not true for pervasive practices like sexual harassment, including rape, that are built into structural social hierarchies.

— Catharine A Mackinnon, nytimes.com

Justice Law MeToo #metoo Sexual Assault

His career, reputation, mental and emotional serenity and assets counted. Hers didn’t. In some ways, it was even worse to be believed and not have what he did matter. It meant she didn’t matter.

— Catharine A Mackinnon, nytimes.com

Justice Law MeToo #metoo Sexual Assault

Even when she was believed, nothing he did to her mattered as much as what would be done to him if his actions against her were taken seriously. His value outweighed her sexualized worthlessness.

— Catharine A Mackinnon, nytimes.com

Justice Law MeToo #metoo Sexual Assault

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