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We have come a long way from the times when women were classified as and arrested for demanding voting rights, stepping in front of to garner attention. In just over two years, the #MeToo movement has made us question the notion of sexual engagement, our understanding of what constitutes as consent, and insisted that we become aware of others鈥� experiences.

#BalanceTonPorc in France, in Russia, #ArewaMeToo in Nigeria and #NiUnaManos in Latin America have all worked toward raising awareness of sexual assault and harassment as experienced across different cultures and socioeconomic environments.

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Critics of the movement, who include women, have argued that #MeToo has in its zealous pursuits, dispersing vengeful character assassinations at will. While few rape accusations are false, and men are statistically to be raped than falsely accused, in cases of sexual harassment that often come down to subjective interpretation of events, there is a danger of unconditionally believing the accuser. The actor and comedian and US are, perhaps, a case in point.

Others still that this new rhetoric has taken the fun out of flirtation and sex, politicizing relationships to a degree of professional stiffness. The story of the #MeToo movement is, therefore, anything but straightforward.

The Story of #MeToo

鈥淵ou are not alone.鈥� This is the ethos of the 鈥渕e too鈥� movement that was , borne of her experience of working with young black women and girls from low-income communities. The goal of the movement is to 鈥渞eframe and expand the global conversation around sexual violence鈥� to include those most often left out of the public eye 鈥� communities of color, sexual minorities, those living with disabilities and young people.

But the movement, which, as Burke writes, 鈥渟tarted in the deepest, darkest place in my soul,鈥� only burst onto the global stage when the American actor used the phrase that has now become a viral hashtag, #MeToo, in a 2017 tweet calling on women to share their experiences of sexual assault and harassment. Catching like a wildfire across social media, #MeToo showed women around the world that they were indeed not alone. The sheer magnitude of revelations caught many by surprise. According to , within the first year of Milano鈥檚 tweet, the hashtag was used more than 19 million times on Twitter alone.

A tide of high-profile allegations followed. The Hollywood bastion fell first, with accusations against film producer Harvey Weinstein rolling in faster than one could count. Many now infamous names were added swiftly to the : Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, James Franco, Dustin Hoffman, Louis C.K. Then came the media industry, with #MeToo deposing airtime stars like Charlie Rose, Bill O鈥橰eilly and Matt Lauer, as well as the chief executive of CBS, Les Moonves.

The wave rolled on, catching the footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, the Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, Senator Franken, former UK Defense Secretary , the singer R. Kelly, judge Brett Kavanaugh and even the president of the United States, sweeping up university professors, orchestra conductors and renowned photographers the world over.

The #MeToo movement has put the accusers 鈥� the women historically silenced by countless levels of sexist oppression as well as the male victims who have been largely ignored when it comes to sexual and domestic violence 鈥� center stage. 鈥淏elieve women鈥� became the simple idea that shifted the balance of social power.

In November 2017, Los Angeles County launched a special task force to address the spike in allegations. The number of victims of rape and sexual assault reported in the US was up from 23% in 2016 to 40% in 2017, according to the . In the UK, figures show that the number of rapes reported to the police increased from close to 36,000 in 2015-16 to nearly 58,000 in 2018-19, by the #MeToo revelations.

Why Does #MeToo Matter?

But it鈥檚 an uphill struggle. #MeToo may have opened doors for victims to report abuse but, according to the same Home Office statistics, charges or summons for rape have fallen from one in seven in 2015-16 to just one in 65 in 2018-19. The LA task force is still to officially charge someone. Many of the #MeToo-inspired accusations are historic, and prosecutors face obstacles such as expired statutes of limitations and obtaining hard evidence. Yet more states across America are now moving toward either expanding or completely removing the statutes of limitation for sex crimes.

While Weinstein has pleaded not guilty , many of the accused perpetrators have made a recovery 鈥� and even a comeback. Two cases against Spacey have been dropped by the prosecution. Ronaldo鈥檚 career is still in full swing after a ruling that against him could not be 鈥減roven beyond a reasonable doubt.鈥� Louis C.K. is back on the comedy circuit. Daniele Gatti and Charles Dutoit are still . Epstein, charged with sex trafficking, committed suicide before he could face justice. Kavanaugh is presiding on the US Supreme Court, and Donald Trump is still in office. Only Cosby is serving his sentence at a maximum security prison in Pennsylvania, to other political martyrs like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.

According to the UN, experience physical or sexual violence globally. India remains the worst country in the world to be a woman, with a rape occurring at least once . In China, the budding #MeToo movement has claimed some high-profile victories, but activists find themselves fighting a double-edged sword of . In Japan, a pop singer was forced to for her assault, and South Korea is only starting to of its own dark underbelly. Nigeria鈥檚 fledgling movement is facing a backlash.

In 2018, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights that some 60% of women surveyed have experienced sexual harassment. In Russia, the government has decriminalized types of domestic violence under the guise of keeping families together, disregarding an estimated in their homes and a further 36,000 being abused daily across the country. In Britain, a poll that a third of men and a fifth of women thought that if a woman flirted on a date without explicitly consenting to sex, 鈥渋t generally would not count as rape鈥� 鈥� nor would in a long-term relationship for a quarter of respondents.

There is an obvious danger of equalizing various degrees of sexual harassment and assault. Where do we draw the line between inappropriate sexual behavior and malicious, even criminal, intent? Social media is hardly an appropriate forum to try sexual abuse allegations. But in what is often the absence of other viable avenues, women have sharpened #MeToo into an Amazon鈥檚 sword in a fight to change the rules of the game. At the moment, as the new revolution is trying to find its footing, the lines are being drawn on shifting sands.

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.