OUTPOURING

#MeToo Hashtag Trends as Women and Men Share Stories of Assault

Twitter, Facebook erupt with harrowing tales of assault after survivors are urged to speak up.

Twitter and Facebook lit up Sunday night with women and men speaking up about surviving sexual assault after actress Alyssa Milano urged survivors to tweet #MeToo to show the “magnitude of the problem.” The movement, which came in response to the mounting sexual-assault allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, quickly gained momentum, with celebrities like Anna Paquin and Debra Messing among those chiming in. #MeToo quickly became the top trending topic on Twitter in both the U.S. and globally, with both men and women sharing harrowing stories of rape and assault. Milano, who said she was “sickened and disgusted” to hear the dozens of allegations against Weinstein, said she hoped the public discussion of rape would help survivors. “When we hear cases of sexual abuse, harassment, and assault play out in a public way, it gives us all extreme heartache but also, strength and fortitude,” Milano told the New York Daily News.