(NEW YORK) — From the Harvey Weinstein allegations to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, the year since allegations of sexual misconduct became a national dialogue has shown both how far the movement has come…and how far it still has to go.
The New York Times published its explosive story — in which dozens of women accused movie mogul Weinstein of sexual misconduct and assault — on Oct. 5, 2017. Since then, numerous powerful men, and a few women, have been brought down in a variety of industries from Hollywood to Washington, D.C., from business to media.
The fallen men and women include Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby, Matt Lauer, former Minnesota Senator Al Franken, former Arizona Congressman Trent Franks, Republic Records executive and The Four judge Charlie Walk, Louis C.K., Russell Simmons, Mario Batali, Intel Corp. CEO Brian Krzanich, Charlie Rose, Weinstein accuser Asia Argento and, recently, former CBS Chairman and CEO Les Moonves.
Also in the past year, millions of people have taken to social media to post about their own experiences with sexual harassment and assault, and women in particular have reacted by marching, protesting and running for office.
“It’s been inspiring that in this year, where the news cycle is so short and major scandals are forgotten the following week, that this story, this issue, the experience of sexual assault, is not a story that’s going away,” Emily Martin of the National Women’s Law Center told ABC News. “It demonstrates that this story is not nearly done.”
And neither is the work. There is still much to be done in changing and enforcing laws and institutions, as well as getting more public investment in resources for survivors.
“To change our culture in a long-lasting way, that work has begun but we still have a lot of work to do,” Martin said.
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