#MeToo: The end begins with men

#MeToo: The end begins with men

by: Deb Domingo

“You have a role to play, and a choice to make. You can do something or you can do nothing.”

Every 53 minutes someone is sexually assaulted and seven out of 10 victims of these crimes are children at least once in their lifetime, 65% of women report experienced street harassment in their lifetimes, a study revealed in 2016.

In the 1960s and 1970s, feminist convened consciousness-raising aimed at politicizing the various forms of women’s oppression that were occurring in private and so were the heart and soul of gay rights activism.

Sexual harassment comes in any forms- gestures, ogling, wolf-whistling and inappropriate touches.

It is pervasive but we often don’t see it. There is no industry that is immune to it and the horror is not limited to the confines of Hollywood but every woman and girls can be a victim of this crime.

According to Jimmy Carter, former President of the US that mistreatment of women is the number one human rights abuse and often caused by misinterpretation of religious scriptures that women are ordinary relegated to secondary possession with man, compared to man in the eyes of God.

Why does sexual harassment keep happening?

2018, and yet these crimes are as rampant as ever. There are stories of sexual harassment that are left untold for they are afraid that people will not believe them and the fear of being judged “kasalanan mo naman” [it is your fault], and women are afraid that men will murder them.

Some predators are often men in positions of power they don’t take “no” as an answer and because some victims chooses to forgive the bad behaviour.

The hashtag #MeToo started by actress and activist Alyssa Milano and activist Tarana Burke become an evidence that support claims for the damages that involved sexual assault and later become a movement vigorously a battle cry of women across social media and the world.

This phenomenon, encourages women to speak up to break the silence on sexual violence.Also, women who are rising up in the world are more likely to experience sexual harassment as a way to knock them off.

There are respondents telling their own experience and many celebrities and ordinary people responded to the tweet saying “Me Too” even the Cheats lead singer Saab Magalona.

Through the power of the online movement, victims finally break their silence.

Responsibility and Guilt

Change begins with a very clear understanding of the problem to be solved.

Every man matters.

The end begins with man. A good man need to stand-up and get involved in the violence against girls and woman. They don’t just matters because they are the 50 percent of the population but rather man listens to other man, if you are a good man and talk about respect against women, other men will hear you and most importantly, boys will listen to a man as well and that is a change of the future.

In the social media man started #HowIWillChange hashtag to show solidarity with the victims of sexual assault.

               

Violence against women hurts everyone not just woman and girls but also with those who cares. We must have the courage and urgency to practice it as it is unfolding. We can all be a hero, and we don’t need capes, we just need to have courage.

We all need to take this all seriously. If you see someone that is mistreated talk to her and tell her that it is wrong and she needs to take action. We need to stand up, and do the action even if the perpetuator is a top performer. Tolerance to bad behaviour leads more to bad behaviour.

The silence is allowing it to continue, make them accountable for the things they did. Let them tell their stories and believe them. Our power is enough to create a long lasting change.

“Boys will be boys” call that out! No one should ever think that it is normal.

“If silence is predator’s best friend and if shame and denial are the ingredients that helps this epidemic to grow then how can anyone of us stay silent?”