Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussions of rape and sexual assault.

The #MeToo Movement is a social awareness campaign that aims to bring light to widespread sexual assault and rape culture. Individual victims of sexual assault and/or abuse publicize their own experiences using the hashtag #MeToo on social media platforms such as X (formerly, Twitter) to highlight the enormity of the problem and to express solidarity with one another. #MeToo was founded by Tarana Burke, an activist from New York, who survived rape and sexual assault as a minor. Burke used the phrase “me too” on Myspace to promote “empowerment through empathy” amongst women of color who had experienced sexual violence. In 2014, Burke asserted that “‘me too’ is a movement to, among other things, radicalize the notion of mass healing. As a community, we create a lot of space for fighting and pushing back, but not enough for connecting and healing” (Guerra, Cristela. “Where’d the #MeToo initiative really come from? Activist Tarana Burke, long before hashtags.” The Boston Globe, 17 Oct. 2017).

#MeToo was launched into the realm of international notoriety in 2017 when actor Alyssa Milano responded to several allegations of sexual abuse that had been made against film producer Harvey Weinstein, including by Italian model Ambra Gutierrez and American actor Rose McGowan.