#MeToo - the victories, the criticisms and the unintended consequences
Woman's Hour
BBC
4.1 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2021
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The #MeToo movement exploded across social media and into the public consciousness in late 2017. In case you missed it, Me Too aimed to show the scale of harassment and sexual violence in society and raise awareness of women who've been abused. Amid shared stories from women of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds, it exposed not only the magnitude of sexual assault but the systemic failure to stop it. It's the most visible, feminist, social media movement of recent times. But what are the victories, criticisms and unintended consequences of #MeToo?
A year on from the start of Harvey Weinstein's trial in New York City, we hear reflections from actors Rosanna Arquette and Caitlin Dulany, who have both accused Weinstein of sexual assault.
Emma is also joined by defence barrister Gudrun Young; the Director of End Violence Against Women, Sarah Green; and the author Lionel Shriver.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, it's Emma Barnett here with today's edition of the Woman's Hour Podcast, a lot to think about. |
| 0:11.0 | Good morning. It's exactly a year since the trial of Harvey Weinstein started in New York City. |
| 0:17.0 | Allegations against Weinstein began to emerge in 2017 when the New York Times first reported incidents dating back over decades. |
| 0:24.0 | In March last year, Weinstein was found guilty of committing a first-degree criminal sexual act against one woman and third-degree rape of another and is serving a 23-year prison sentence in upstate New York. |
| 0:35.0 | And more sexual assault charges are coming. |
| 0:38.0 | The Me Too movement was already in existence having been created by Tarana Burke back in 2006 to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society. |
| 0:48.0 | But Weinstein's accused has turbocharged it into a global movement. |
| 0:52.0 | It's a hashtag that's been used more than 19 million times to tell women and men's stories. |
| 0:58.0 | But a year on, since Weinstein hobbled into court suddenly using a zimmer frame, what does the Me Too movement achieved? |
| 1:06.0 | Are more people getting access to justice? Has it prevented would-be abusers from abusing or driven it further underground? |
| 1:13.0 | And what would have been the unintended consequences? |
| 1:16.0 | And what have those been perhaps in your life? How has the Me Too wave affected your existence, if at all? Have you spoken up having previously been silent? Did you stop something happening as you suddenly felt, I don't know, seen? |
| 1:29.0 | Has the movement changed the way you work or date? I say this to both women and men. |
| 1:35.0 | Text me now on 84844, text our charge at your standard rate. |
| 1:39.0 | To tell us how it has affected you or what your view is of it and how it's changed society around you perhaps. |
| 1:45.0 | And let us know all you can do so by the website you can email us or on social media it's at BBC Woman's Hour. |
| 1:53.0 | But to our first guests then, the actors Rosanna Arquette and Caitlin Delaney, who are joining us as I say, a year on from the first day of Weinstein's court case. |
| 2:04.0 | They've both spoken out and accused Weinstein of sexual assault. Rosanna was one of the first women to speak up publicly against Weinstein after he repeatedly propositioned her and pressured her into sexual acts threatening her career if she didn't. |
| 2:17.0 | Caitlin broke her 20 years silence after being sexually assaulted by Weinstein in France. |
| 2:22.0 | They joined me from California where I should say it's around 2 o'clock in the morning so thank you both of you for staying up if I may start with that. |
| 2:30.0 | Rosanna, first to you, a year on, how are you feeling and how did you feel actually outside that court case as he started his trial? |
| 2:39.0 | Oh yes, that was a great day. Some of the women that we stood together in solidarity and very quietly just watched him walk in so that he could see that we're in solidarity and we mean it. |
... |
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