BBC News School Report @ LCS

In autumn of last year, when The New York Times exposed Harvey Weinstein and other stories came out in the press about sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse in the entertainment industry, women from all industries spoke up about their experience of sexual harassment in the workplace. This solidarity between women –activists and survivors – across all industries is what inspired Time’s Up and what continues to galvanise us. This movement is bigger than just a change in the entertainment industry. It has opened up conversations in the workplace about the imbalance of power between men and women. A conversation which is long overdue. Why are we only having this conversation now?

Women have been reporting incidents in the past involving famous names; decades of assault accusations followed former television star Bill Cosby even as his star was rising. And in 2016, the "Access Hollywood" tape depicting then-candidate Donald Trump boasting of sexual assault did not stop his ultimate presidential victory so what’s different in the movement we’re experiencing now?

Many of the women who spoke out against Weinstein -Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan- are famous names. In previous high-profile sexual harassment cases, the men accused were well-known names and the alleged female victims were less-known. Women’s stories were discredited because of the narrative ‘famous man accused by less-famous woman to gain publicity’ overpowering the real issue at hand but now it’s time to say #TimesUp and #MeToo.

After successful court cases convicting famous men, women have felt confident and empowered to speak up about their experiences. Jimmy Savile, who was a radio presenter and DJ, sexually abused hundreds of women and children at the height of his fame. The allegations came out a month after he passed away in November 2011 and enquiries started into his misconduct. The most recent information was in 2014 when the NSPCC researched into him for BBC Panorama and results confirmed that there had been at least 500 reports of abuse by Savile. This breakthrough in exposing sexual abuse claims has made women more confident in speaking out about their experience and bringing the perpetrators to light.

The Time’s Up movement, which also empowered women, started with four female CAA (Creative Arts Industry) agents: Maha Dakhil, Michelle Kyd Lee, Hylda Queally and Christy Haubegger, and then quickly expanded to include 300 prominent actresses, female agents, writers, directors, producers and entertainment executives who joined forces to bring the ambitious, sprawling initiative of Time’s Up to the world and to fight sexual harassment in Hollywood and in blue-collar workplaces worldwide.

Stars like Emma Watson (who donated £1 million to the movement), Natalia Portman, Kerry Washington and Tom Hiddleston have supported the movement.

Of the movement, Viola Davis told NBC, “I'm here because I hear the voices of women who said 'me too,' which, one of them was me. I hear those people who are nameless, faceless every day who don't have a platform to talk about their sexual assault and rape, and I hear those voices.”

The initiative includes a legal defence fund, backed by $21 million in donations, to help less privileged women like janitors, nurses, and workers at farms, factories, restaurants and hotels to protect themselves from sexual misconduct and the fallout from reporting it.

The Time’s Up open letter, published on the 1st January 2018, called for women to wear black at the Golden Globes which took place on the 7th January 2018. The theme of celebrities using red carpets to show their solidarity amidst this changing time in the industry carried on to the Oscars with stars carrying white roses and came to the UK when the Brit awards took place last month.

Here in the UK, this movement is critical. The gender pay gap for women in their 20s is now five times greater than it was six years ago. Research in the UK has found that more than half of all women said they have experienced sexual harassment at work. A BBC survey showed that half of British women have been sexually harassed at work or a place of study but only 37% of them reported it.

Anyone who has said “time’s up” or “me too” has joined the worldwide movement on changing women’s positions in the workforce. This is their moment.

I hear those people who are nameless, faceless every day who don't have a platform to talk about their sexual assault and rape, and I hear those voices.

Viola Davis