The new year is already beginning as it should. 2018 is waking up on the right side of the bed, per say. As many have already noticed a significant number of our favorite celebrities, like Vanessa Hudgens, Emma Watson, Natalie Portman, among many others, have shared through their social networks a newly emerging movement. The famous lend their voice to spread the news around the world and announce that things have to change from now on and towards forever. This movement is called Time’s Up.
“It’s a call for change for women”, they explain on their website. It aims to attract everyone’s attention just like the #MeToo campaign, which incites all women that have been victims of sexual harassment and/or assault to raise their voices against their oppressors. The letter, who wrote the women who came together for the cause, seeks to go much further. It wants to take things to another level. It’s about standing up and taking matters into our own hands, leaving no one behind.
To read full letter Click here
Here are the most important points that the letter makes:
1. The letter emphasizes the need for more support and inclusion when it comes to women of color, bisexual women, lesbians, transgender women, and immigrant women in the labor areas since the struggle for them tends to be much more complicated.
2. A place is provided for all victims, regardless of race or social status, who have suffered sexual abuse or harassment.
3. It calls for the drafting of laws that support victims of sexual harassment and for victims to receive justice: for oppressors to not escape unscathed.
4. The campaign provides the necessary resources to help those women and men victims who may not have raised their voices because of the lack of them. (You can make your donation to the legal account of the campaign here.)
5. Elimination of the complicated journey that women face in order to reach positions that only men seem to have exclusivity in the labor market. Make it clear once and for all that women also deserve to be heard and recognized for our merits in an equitable manner.
List of things you can do to support:
(This was written by Time’s Up )
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Don’t be part of the problem. For starters, don’t harass anyone.If a person who has been harassed tells you about it, believe them. Don’t underestimate how hard it is to talk about these things.
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If you know someone who has been harassed, connect them to resources who can help, such as the ones found here.
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If you are a witness or bystander and see a harassing situation, you can help the person being harassed. You could actually intervene. You could confront the harasser. You could also help the person get out of the harassing situation. If you cannot do any of these things, you can still support the harassed person by corroborating and by confirming the account of what happened.
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You can support those affected by sexual harassment by donating to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.
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If you are part of an organization, look at the workforce and the leadership (management, officers, the board of directors) Does it reflect in the market where you operate and the world we live in? If not, ask why not and do something to move it closer to that goal.
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Acknowledge that talent is equally distributed, but work and career opportunities are not. Mentor someone from an under-represented group in your industry. If you are in a position to do so, hire someone who can diversify the perspectives included in your organization; your team will be better and stronger for it.
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You can vote with your wallet: in your purchasing, in your investing and in your charitable giving. Spend or give to companies and organizations who have more equitable leadership and opportunities for all.
The time to continue enduring injustices has ended. No other woman, or anyone for that matter, should face sexual harassment from anyone, at all, for no reason. No more silence, no more oppression. The moment has come to take us by the hand and raise unanimously a voice that demands justice. It is no longer just about saving tomorrow, but about being able to live the today we want. bring peace to all the women around us, our mothers, our aunts, our sisters, you, me and those who come.
The clock has run out on sexual assault, harassment, and inequality in the workplace. It’s time to do something about it.
For more information on the Time’s Up Movement, click here. To follow on social media @timeupnow