Trending seeds

From the roots of Hollywood...

Finding its roots in systemic gender imbalance, the #MeToo movement sheds light on the dark corruption of Hollywood’s gender culture. And in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Alyssa Milano’s tweet inspires many women to come forward against other prominent men – from actors and directors to presenters and politicians.

...to the stem of global politics

Ten days after the rise of #MeToo the conversation reaches the floors of European Parliament. It follows claims that Brussels authorities ignored allegations of institutional harassment, assault and rape. This misuse of political power proves to be global. Sexual misconduct allegations emerge involving the American president, an influential governor of a South Korea province, and high profile British MPs to name a few.

Pollinating the everyday discourse

Spreading across industries and geographies, involving media, celebrities and regular people, online conversation addresses the unbalanced gender power. From politics to sport, music to theatre, thousands of women – along with many men – hear the story and tell their own.

Broken silence and hidden stems

The torrent of personal stories shows the magnitude of everyday sexism and sexual misconduct. “MeToo became a hashtag, a movement, a reckoning. But it began, as great social change nearly always does, with individual acts of courage.” TIME's editor on why The Silence Breakers were Person of the Year 2017.

Offshoots

Other hashtags and initiatives grow. On the 1st of January, 300 women came together to sign a powerful letter that originated the Time’s Up Movement to fight systemic sexual harassment. A few days later, Oprah delivers a powerful speech as first black woman to be honoured with The Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes. Both reveal a palpable shift in tone; a statement that after awareness comes action, social change.

New seeds disperse: from the web to the streets

Hundreds of thousands of women around the world take to the streets for the 2018 Women's March; one year after the event was first held in opposition to newly elected US President Donald Trump. Without the sky-high social media engagement of MeToo, would the march have been possible on such a scale?

And a movement blossoms around the world

March 8th marked International Women’s Day, but either 2017 and 2018 could be called the year of women. MeToo may have started in North America but it spread quickly around the globe, empowering survivors and advocates to bridge geographical distances.

The people who have broken their silence span all races, all professions and virtually every corner of the globe. It offers hope that unheard voices can help bring about institutional and cultural change.