My BF decided he wanted my virginity for his 18th birthday: When rape stories take the form of a movement
- The #MeToo campaign was started by Hollywood actress Alyssa Milano.
- She started getting messages from women from across the world, including celebrities, who shared their stories on Twitter.
- She started the campaign to speak out against film producer Harvey Weinstein and his decades of sexual predation.
FollowRape and sexual assault are not a thing of the past. They are very much in the present, happening every minute across the world. As horrifying stories emerge on social media, we think, it has become a common thing. Call it acceptance by choice, but we forget that acceptance has no space for revolt and if there is no revolt, there is no change.
So, here are some stories from #MeToo, which will open your eyes to the world and give you an assurance that it is ok to speak up, but not ok to suffer in silence.
Something I never talk about and know Jesus can only heal. #metoo
— Leigh Ann Stephens (@lafconnors) October 16, 2017
#MeToo sexual assault must be condemned loudly!
— Sonia (@nyelkah) October 16, 2017
do my best not to think about it anymore, but after a year of therapy&years of having amazing friends, i have the courage to say #MeToo
— katie misses RTXL :( (@teammicheoff) October 16, 2017
Jumps into, what it means mirage of Untruth, #MeToo get confused but I stick to simple rules of humanity & honesty that makes me through
— राजीव पांचाल (@NotNewToAny1) October 16, 2017
In 10th grade. By a Rabbi. He caught me buying porn. I was terrified he'd get me kicked out of school. He took me to his office and tried to assault me.#MeToo
— Motti Salzberg (@MottiSalzberg) October 16, 2017
I feel great sadness for every #metoo
— Twitty McTwitface (@gcarrick) October 16, 2017
Sexual abuse is a huge blight in society
The more I think about it, the more I remember more of my own experiences with abusive behaviour from men. #MeToo
— Vanessa ⚘ (@dametokillfor) October 16, 2017
What keeps blowing my mind about #MeToo is how young we were when something happened that very first time. We were just kids, ffs.
— Romina (@Romina_BCL) October 16, 2017
My assailant was a complete stranger. #metoo
— lucifer (@winstonthecat5) October 16, 2017
I was 16. My boyfriend decided he wanted my virginity for his 18th birthday. I didn’t want to go that far. He went there anyway. #MeToo
— Hannah (@hannah_allison) October 16, 2017
because he thought a 17y/o wanted her first time to be in his backseat with his hand over my mouth, yet my bf now still asks first. #metoo
— fiona (@feohna) October 16, 2017
I just realized how many times it happened...I'm very shook rn #MeToo
— Honeybunch (@nohuXF33) October 16, 2017
#metoo can include trans, gay and male vics of #sexualviolence
— Liesbeth Kennes (@LiesbethKennes) October 16, 2017
The first time anyone threatened to rape me, I was eleven years old. #metoo
— Kristin McCombs (@kristin_mccombs) October 16, 2017
#MeToo I was 13 the 1st time sexual assault happened - took me 12 years to realize that, and that it wasn't my fault for being well-endowed.
— 🌸🐁🌸 (@Zillychu) October 16, 2017
Am making a big change to my work life to get help now...13 years later. His actions have had a huge impact on my life #MeToo #womenwhoroar
— sarah vernon (@svwonderlust) October 16, 2017
For thirty years of silence #metoo
— Mary K (@pixiedid) October 16, 2017
I was too young to know what happened was wrong. That doesn't lift the shame. That doesn't erase the pain. But I'm still here today. #MeToo
— Amy L'Amour (@amylawhore) October 16, 2017
#MeToo how can you ever trust again when the one who means the world to you tears it away
— PokéFan Chel! (@PokefanChel) October 16, 2017
#Metoo ...used my sense of humor to brush off unwanted advances bc as gross as he is making you feel, you want to survive what comes next.
— Lindsey Morgan (@Lindserkins) October 16, 2017
Read their stories and connect the dots. Is there any semblance to what you may have faced some day, at some point in a bus, in the metro? These stories, unlocked in agony, are the stories not just of women, but of men and transgenders who too suffer in silence. It is considered even more shameful for them. It would, perhaps, take some more time to realise that there is no shame, if we are not ashamed. It's never the victim's fault afterall.
The campaign was started on Twitter by Hollywood actress Alyssa Milano. Given the overwhelming response she received from people across the world, she said, "While I am sickened and angered over the disturbing accusations of Weinstein's sexual predation and abuse of power, I'm happy - ecstatic even - that it has opened up a dialogue around the continued sexual harassment, objectification and degradation of women."
