By Amelia FortunatoIn October 2017, actress Alyssa Milano tweeted encouraging other women who have been sexually assaulted to write “me too” in response to her post. This post that would eventually lead way to an entire movement was started to show just how many people had been impacted by sexual assault. (Courtesy of Mental Health Partners) Following this tweet, many women (and men) began to share their experiences with the subject. It encouraged many people to finally talk about what they had been through, and it also opened the eyes of millions. The #MeToo Movement brought about a period of time where many women would share stories of their sexual assault from men in powerful positions, including millions of famous names (Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Brett Kavanaugh, etc). This formed an important question: How do we know which allegations are true? And how do we separate the fake ones from the real ones? Has #MeToo become a witch hunt? I argue that no, it has not. (Photo courtesy of Newsweek) You may have heard the rape allegations against Melanie Martinez (former contestant on the Voice) last year. Timothy Heller, a former friend and roommate, came forward on Twitter to accuse Martinez of having sex with her without consent. Martinez later responded by saying that she was “horrified and saddened” by said claims and that everything that happened was consensual. Despite this, many people immediately jumped to criticize Martinez and wondered at the fact that she admitted that something had happened. The hashtag #IStandWith Timothy was immediately trending online. People were burning their Melanie Martinez merchandise and quickly jumping to call Martinez out on her actions. Because of this incident, Melanie Martinez’s career was hurt, but was it deserved? Now that lies on whether or not you believe Heller or Martinez. If Heller’s story is true, as many believe, then people were justified in criticizing Martinez. The fact that Martinez said that they did in fact have a sexual encounter says that she just might be guilty, especially considering that Timothy Heller had a boyfriend at the time of the event’s occurrence. However, if Heller was merely telling lies, she ruined Martinez’s reputation. Why would someone lie about such a thing? Heller was taking a risk when she came forward to share that story, knowing that Martinez’s fans might harass her. She was right. A slew of people immediately began to harass Timothy Heller based on her story, defending Martinez and arguing that she had done nothing wrong. Yes, maybe Heller was lying, but why would she risk so much just to ruin someone’s reputation? Why would she put herself in a position where she knew people might be harsh to her because she shared her story? I think that Timothy Heller was telling the truth, and I stand with her. While many people may believe that a lot of sexual assault accusations are false, the facts say otherwise. According to the FBI, only 2% of rape and related charges are found to be fake. Often times, when people say that “almost all of these accusations are lies,” they are over exaggerating. The fact that only 2% of these allegations are false shows that about 98% of them are found to be true. More often than not, the truth is being told. I also bring into question, as I did earlier, why someone would put him or herself under the scrutiny of the public eye. Only about 40% of sexual assaults are reported to the police. This is because victims know that if they come forward, they will be belittled and called a liar. So what good has the #MeToo movement done? Well, it’s given a voice to a lot of women who never would have spoken up otherwise. By normalizing the conversation around sexual assault, more people feel comfortable talking about their experiences; this has sparked a worldwide dialogue about the issue. There have been more safe spaces created for victims, which is a step in the right direction. Although we have a long way to go before the issue of sexual assault is better, the #MeToo movement has brought us a long way and has paved a road for essential conversations.
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Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
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