JUDY WOODRUFF:
The #MeToo hashtag has millions of women sharing stories of abuse, highlighting a troubling reality in our society.
It was first used in 2007, but when actor Alyssa Milano tweeted Sunday night about sexual harassment and assault in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein story, it went viral. The hashtag was tweeted nearly a million times in just 48 hours. Facebook said that 45 percent of its users have friends who have posted #MeToo, as women have written about their experiences about the workplace and culture, and what needs to change.
Let’s explore some of these issues with Fatima Goss Graves. She is president of the National Women’s Law Center. Lisa Senecal wrote about her own experience for the online news site Daily Beast. She is with the Vermont Commission on Women. And Melissa Silverstein is the founder of the blog and website Women and Hollywood.
Thank you all for joining us.
Lisa Senecal, I have to start with you.
You have had personal experience with sexual harassment. That’s partly what drew you to this movement of the #MeToo campaign.
Just tell briefly what happened.
LISA SENECAL, Member, Vermont Commission on Women: Sure.
Like most women, I have had a number of experiences with sexual harassment, starting with my first job, when I was 15 years old. And it’s really been a threat in every way throughout my professional career.
The most egregious offense was an actual assault that occurred with a male executive. Unfortunately, due to an NDA – and we can go into the evils of nondisclosures another time – but therefore, there is not much that I am able to say about the specific event.
But the problem of sexual harassment and finally that this has come to the fore, many women are already familiar with it to be on the receiving end. And I think, especially with the #MeToo campaign, it’s been really wonderful and an eye-opening experience for men to understand how pervasive a problem it is.
