{"id":1650,"date":"2017-12-19T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1650"},"modified":"2017-12-18T10:16:12","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T16:16:12","slug":"revisiting-rape-culture-as-survivors-say-me-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2017\/12\/19\/revisiting-rape-culture-as-survivors-say-me-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of 2017: Revisiting Rape Culture as Survivors Say \u2018Me Too\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Chase Carter, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Originally published Oct. 31, 2017<\/em><\/p>\n

In recent weeks, over 500,000 women and men shared the hashtag <\/span>#MeToo<\/span><\/a> in response to the following social media tweet: \u201cIf all the women who have been sexuallly harrassed or assaulted wrote \u2018Me too.\u2019 as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.\u201d Some participants only shared the hashtag, while others revealed deeply personal stories of sexual harassment in the workplace, child sexual abuse, and sexual assault on college campuses, to name a few. <\/span>Initially started by activist Tarana Burke<\/span><\/a>, this reinvigoration of the Me Too campaign comes amidst numerous sexual assault and harassment claims against several high status men, including Hollywood mogul <\/span>Harvey Weinstein<\/span><\/a>, musical artist <\/span>Nelly<\/span><\/a>, and most recently, <\/span>House of Cards<\/span><\/i> actor <\/span>Kevin Spacey<\/span><\/a>. Sexual harassment and sexual assault are certainly not new phenomena. Yet, these campaigns that provide space for survivors to address victimization may signal a renewed public effort to address rape culture – a struggle that social scientists have spent decades trying to resolve.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consequences of Sexual Violence<\/b><\/p>\n

Sexual violence frequently results in several psychological and financial consequences for victims and survivors throughout the life course. Many report feelings of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder following the incident, and the trauma that results from sexual violence may alter how victims view themselves. Kaitlyn Boyle argues that assault characteristics like physical injury, perpetrator force, and physical resistance shape one\u2019s self-identification as a \u201cvictim\u201d or a \u201csurvivor.\u201d Sexual violence may also impact women\u2019s career trajectories. For example, many women that are sexually harassed in the workplace are more likely than non-harassed women to change jobs earlier in their career in order to avoid their harassers and\/or employers who failed to fully investigate their claims. These moves often resulted in increased financial hardship. <\/span><\/h5>\n