Me too, Mr Weinstein, me too

It’s enough. Over the past week the Harvey Weinsten scandal has broken, and in the past few days #metoo has been trending across social media.

And you know what, ME TOO. And I bet every woman you know, AND a significant number of the men, have been the subject to a level of sexual assault.  And I bet you have too.

And therein lies so much of the problem.  Because it has happened to almost all of us on some level it has become normalized. We have been catcalled on the streets in our school uniforms. We have had men put their hands up our skirts in clubs. We have had our own peers, boys of our own age, not being able to understand the simple fact that NO MEANS NO.  No woman should have to consider herself lucky that she was only mildly sexually assaulted, that he did stop eventually, that he did let go.

It is time to say enough is enough. The fact that so many women, and men, are speaking up about their experiences is amazingly brave and extremely commendable. But it should be viewed as the start point rather than the end result. We all need to start having the conversations with our friends, parents, brothers and sisters.  Rather than using language about how many women get sexually assaulted, start talking about how many people are perpetrators of this assault.   Let’s teach the next generation to act with kindness and humanity towards each other as instict. Let’s learn the lesson now, that consent is sexy, that no other human should ever be treated as an object, and that no ALWAYS means no.

Image taken from For All Womankind