Thousands march in LA in support of sexual assault victims

Thousands marched in Los Angeles on Sunday, inspired by a social media campaign called #MeToo, which has exposed the extent of such abuse, especially within Hollywood.

The march, along Sunset Boulevard followed a relentless series of accusations by both men and women, who say they were harassed or abused by high-powered figures within the entertainment industry.

The #MeToo campaign, which was created by Tarana Burke, the activist who also led the march, transpired as a grassroots movement, to reach sexual assault victims, within underprivileged communities.

“For every Harvey Weinstein, there’s a hundred more men in the neighbourhood who are doing the exact same thing,” said Burke.

“The conversation around harassment in Hollywood will broaden to include other industries if we force it to. It’s not going to do it on its own.”

At the #MeTooMarch in Hollywood pic.twitter.com/gUQmamJp7F

— Mia Galuppo (@miagaluppo) November 12, 2017

The march started in Hollywood, near where the Academy Awards take place, and continued on for around a mile, to the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Cole, where a podium was set up for the rally of speeches, from people including Lauren Sivan, who accused Harvey Weinstein and Cathy Schulman.

As they marched, the crowd chanted “Not in pots, not in plants, keep your junk inside your pants,” before moving on to: “Harvey Weinstein is a joke, women workers just got woke.”

Others included, “Survivors united, we’ll never be divided” and “Whatever we wear, wherever we go, ‘yes’ means ‘yes’ and ‘no’ means ‘no’.”

It’s not too late to come join us out here at the #metoomarch #MeToo pic.twitter.com/cTNNHYOerr

— Amanda Spencer 💋 (@amaspencer) November 12, 2017

The #MeToo social media movement began after a call to action by the actor Alyssa Milano, one of Weinstein’s most vocal critics, who wrote: “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”

Within days, millions of women and some men used Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to disclose the harassment and abuse they had faced in their own lives.

Facebook said that within 24 hours of it launching, 4.7 million people around the world had engaged in the #MeToo conversation, with more than 12 million posts, comments and reactions.

The New York Times reported in October that Weinstein, 65, had agreed eight previously undisclosed settlements with women who accused him of sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact. The New Yorker reported that 13 women had claimed that Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them.

Allegations against Weinstein have snowballed since the publication of the original stories. He has denied all accusations of non-consensual sex.

Last month, Spacey apologised to the actor Anthony Rapp, who accused him of trying to seduce him in 1986 when Rapp was 14. Spacey’s representatives later said he was seeking treatment. 

As other allegations followed, Spacey lost roles, and is being cut out of Ridley Scott’s forthcoming thriller ‘All the Money in the World’, which is being re-shot with Christopher Plummer in Spacey’s role.

Five women detailed sexual misconduct accusations against the Emmy-winning comedian Louis CK in the New York Times last week. He admitted the misconduct in a statement on Friday and apologised for his actions.

Almost every day, fresh allegations surface.