Time magazine has named “The Silence Breakers” as its 2017 Person of the Year, recognizing the women and men who came forward with stories of sexual harassment and assault and helped force a nationwide reckoning.
The media’s endless stream of sexual misconduct investigations and the countless #MeToo accounts of harassment, abuse and worse have ensnared an ever-growing list of public figures (celebrities, executives, politicians, business leaders, etc.), whose lives and careers have come crashing down, or are dangerously close to doing so.
The #MeToo movement is significant. It has created a wave of awareness and brave confrontations over sexual harassment and assault, taking down powerful men in the process. The movement helps unify victims, bringing awareness to sexual misconduct, and invoking justice.
Times magazine wrote, “Women have had it with bosses and co-workers who not only cross boundaries but don’t even seem to know that boundaries exist. They’ve had it with the fear of retaliation, of being blackballed, of being fired from a job they can’t afford to lose. They’ve had it with the code of going along to get along. They’ve had it with men who use their power to take what they want from women. These silence breakers have started a revolution of refusal, gathering strength by the day, and in the past two months alone, their collective anger has spurred immediate and shocking results: nearly every day, CEOs have been fired, moguls toppled, icons disgraced. In some cases, criminal charges have been brought.”
Women and men are now ready to fight for the justice they all deserve.