#MeToo survivors hopeful about future

By DEEPTI HAJELA and JULIET LINDERMAN

Associated Press

It was the tweet seen around the world.

On Oct. 15, 2017, actress Alyssa Milano urged the Twittersphere to join her in sharing a personal story of sexual harassment in the wake of rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

“If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet,” she wrote.

The response was immediate and overwhelming, and touched off a cultural movement that has shed light on the pervasiveness of sexual harassment, assault and violence against women across all industries.

In the hours, weeks and months that followed the tweet, some recounted their experiences in harrowing detail. Some shared fresh stories; others old memories. Some named their accusers. Others simply said, “#metoo.”

The movement has been widely seen as a national reckoning. In the past year, some of the most powerful men in media, entertainment and politics have lost their jobs and reputations over accusations of misconduct.

Still, just weeks before the anniversary, the U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court despite multiple allegations of sexual assault. Some advocates and survivors saw his confirmation as an insult to the movement and its gains, others a reminder of how much works still needs to be done to secure gender parity in the United States. All said, they’re hopeful for what the future holds.

One, day after Milano’s tweet, Katie Labovitz, a 34-year-old writer living in Queens, shared a story about being sexually assaulted by a Donald Duck mascot at Epcot Theme Park when she was a young teen.

“The person inside the Duck at EPCOT groped me when I was 15,” she wrote.

A few days later, she posted eight more stories of harassment on Instagram.

“I’m sorry mom that you’re reading this,” she wrote.

Labovitz said she didn’t talk much about the Donald Duck incident, but it continued to haunt her into adulthood.

“It was kind of expected that you go on with life, because that’s what you do.” But, she pointed out, “It’s been 20 years. It just sticks with you.”

She said she decided to share to try to comfort other survivors, something she wished she’d had years ago. She said she was surprised how many friends told stories she hadn’t heard before.

“We all just kept it in. It was nice to be able to be public about it,” she said. “It’s nice to be supported. I wish I could have been more supportive for others, but we all kind of kept it to ourselves.”

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, became the face of the #MeToo movement on Capitol Hill when she shared her own story of being sexually harassed as a young congressional aide.

“The chief of staff held my face, kissed me, and stuck his tongue in my mouth,” Speier said in a video posted to her YouTube channel last October. “So, I know what it’s like to keep these things hidden deep inside.”

Speier’s story shed light on what she described as “a breeding ground for a hostile work environment.”

In the months that followed, more than a half-dozen lawmakers lost their jobs over sexual misconduct allegations. A House committee had hearings over the lack of protections in place for Hill staffers and lawmakers; Speier introduced legislation to overhaul the system.

“It’s been a time of highs and lows,” she said, speaking just hours after the Senate voted to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination. “Our country culturally has not come to grips with the devastation that sexual violence does to people, men and women. And the optimism that we had last fall and into this new year has been dampened by the last few weeks.”

Speier said she decided to share her story last year “because I wanted women in Congress to know they can come and talk to me and they would be safe, and I would have their backs.”

But the story she shared publicly isn’t her only MeToo experience, and talking openly about her harassment brought back other painful memories.

“I can tell you the way I’ve coped with it throughout my life is to compartmentalize it,” she said. “That’s what victims do – they compartmentalize. They suppress it. And then something will hit them, and it resurrects all the trauma associated with it.”

Sharing also helped her understand the roots of her dedication to advocating for women, she said.

“It created an ‘a-ha!’ moment in understanding why I’m so passionate about all these issues.”

Speier said she’s hopeful the movement won’t slow down.