MeToo five years on: what has changed?
Over the last five years, thousands of women have exposed their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse under the hashtag MeToo. Originating in the US against the backdrop of the Weinstein scandal, the movement quickly gained international dimensions. Europe's press takes stock.
Stay vigilant and apply pressure
Change requires perseverance, feminists Suzy Rojtman reminds readers in Libération:
“We are wary because we know our history. In the late 1980s, we feminists denounced incest and sexual violence against children. In 1989 the statute of limitations was amended for the first time. ... Then that was it. A leaden silence fell until the scandal emerged again in recent years. We remain vigilant. So yes, MeToo must live on as long as the justice system does not do its job of hearing the victims' voices and making it clear that these acts of violence are forbidden by convicting the perpetrators.”
Iran's youth sees a chance for change
El País sees a connection between MeToo and the protests in Iran:
“Theocracies corrupt the human conscience to justify holy war, holy torture, holy paedophilia. ... But they forget that nothing is more dangerous than the masses, especially if they are educated women, like those in Iran today. ... For five years now, MeToo and feminism have constituted a broad protest movement. ... And it seems that Iranian society has become fully aware of it. Masses of young people have become conscious of their historical potential to insist that even religious norms have an expiry date and that any code, even if it is considered sacred, must be renewed in pace with social change.”
Many open questions
Dagens Nyheter reminds readers that in the course of the campaign there were men who were later acquitted and may have been unjustly accused:
“At the same time, how do we give compensation and a voice to those who were not convicted in court, but have been left to deal with their experiences and sense of powerlessness? What is justice here? How do we achieve reconciliation? The hashtag has almost been forgotten, the blazing campaign has become more of a memory than an ongoing process. But until we find answers to these questions, MeToo has much to do.”