One year into the #MeToo Movement, has anything really changed?
Last October, the Weinstein scandal sparked an overnight revolution that saw women across the globe speak out about sexual assault
KADIAN Noble remembers how she felt, standing in a hotel lift just inches away from Hollywood bigwig Harvey Weinstein. Her heart pounded in her chest – not from nerves, but fear.
“Just minutes earlier, he’d forced me to perform a sex act in his hotel bathroom while I begged him to stop,” alleges the 31-year-old actress from Birmingham.
“It was horrible. He kept telling me that if I was a good girl and did what I was told then he’d look after my career. Afterwards, he acted like nothing had happened. It was as though he thought he was untouchable.”
It turns out Harvey Weinstein was far from untouchable. Three years later, on October 5, 2017, the so-called god of the film industry was brought to his knees after The New York Times published an exposé detailing allegations of sexual harassment from dozens of women.
That same day, the 66-year-old producer released a statement denying claims of non-consensual sex but admitting: “I came of age in the ‘60s and ‘70s, when the rules about behaviour and workplaces were different… That was the culture then… I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain.”
Three days later, Weinstein was dismissed from The Weinstein Company, the film studio he ran with his brother, Bob, 63. Then, on October 10, The New Yorker alleged that Weinstein had sexually assaulted or harassed 13 further women and raped three.
From that moment, Weinstein’s Hollywood reign was over, and a watershed moment in feminist history was triggered. As his wife of 10 years, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, 42, announced her intention to divorce the disgraced father of her children, India, eight, and Dashiell, five, actress Alyssa Milano took to social media to urge victims of sexual assault to break their silence in the simplest way: by using #MeToo.
Overnight the hashtag – originally coined by civil rights activist Tarana Burke in 2006 – went viral as millions of people across the globe shared their stories. Within 24 hours, 4.7 million had engaged on Facebook, and by the following month, #MeToo had been tweeted 2.3 million times from 85 different countries.
According to psychologist Emma Kenny, this call for action became a bonafide cultural revolution, thanks to a perfect storm of social media, feminism and celebrity.
“#MeToo offered women a collective voice,” she explains.
“While the movement is far wider and louder than the area of film and media, ‘known’ faces create noise. So coupled with our easy access to social media, the silence that oppressed so many was smashed. Women have now found their voice, and this period of time will become known for reminding men that we are not vulnerable, and that we are powerful.”
Women’s rights activist and psychology expert Sarah Jones agrees: “It gave women a sense of sisterhood and solidarity, which then empowered them to challenge issues that have been buried for years and bring them out into the open.”
Among the women speaking out were even more alleged victims of Weinstein, with another 70 women coming forward with stories ranging from massages to rape and assault spanning more than 30 years.
One of the first actresses to break her silence was Rose McGowan, who had initially refused to speak when the New York Times piece was published, but had reportedly reached a £75,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997 after he allegedly raped her in a hotel room that year.
Other actresses were quick to follow. Salma Hayek, Asia Argento, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow spoke of their own experiences at Weinstein’s hands, with Gwyneth claiming she was summoned to a hotel suite when she was 22 and asked to give him a massage.
Actress and model Cara Delevingne alleged that Weinstein encouraged her to kiss another woman in his hotel, before trying to kiss her when she attempted to leave.
“I felt ashamed of what happened and didn’t want to publicly ruin someone’s life, even though they privately ruined mine,” Cara tweeted.
However, #MeToo had finally given them – and women everywhere – the courage to find their voice.
In the weeks that followed, there was a global protest where women took to the streets in their thousands, brandishing placards to protest against sexual abuse, while the women of Hollywood launched Time’s Up, a movement to fight and raise awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace.
It was seeing the reaction to #MeToo that spurred Kadian to take Weinstein to court for sex trafficking, as she says he lured her to his Cannes hotel room in 2014 with the false promise of a film role.
Remembering the first time she met him in February 2014, Kadian says: “He basically ran the film industry and told me that he had a role in mind for me. I really thought it would be my big break.”
Months later, after exchanging emails, Weinstein invited Kadian to his hotel in Cannes to look over her film reel. “I’d met his wife earlier that day, and Harvey had always been so charming – I never had any reason to doubt the meeting would be anything other than professional,” she says.
“But when we went into his room, his demeanour changed. He didn’t seem interested in my show reel and asked me to walk up and down as part of an ‘audition’, before starting to massage my shoulder.
“I tried to back off but he told me to relax. I was worried I was being too uptight, but I couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable and intimidated. I just didn’t know how to react.”
Kadian claims that Weinstein then assaulted her after dragging her into the bathroom, forcing her to perform a sex act on him while promising her “everything will be taken care of for you”.
“I was horrified,” she says. “I have no idea how long I was in there for. I kept saying I wanted to leave but he kept telling me to relax. Afterwards he acted normally and we shared a lift down to the lobby. But I was in shock, shaking from head to toe. I felt so belittled and humiliated. I told a friend what had happened, but didn’t even think about going to the police. I didn’t want to jeopardise my career, as I knew he had the power to ruin me. That night, I couldn’t stop crying. I felt so ashamed.”
In a bid to come to terms with her ordeal, Kadian began seeing a therapist.
“As what happened sank in, I felt more and more stupid,” she admits. “My therapist tried to help, but the memories were eating me up inside. I lost trust in men and became very withdrawn. When I confronted his assistant about the roles he’d promised me, she had no idea what I was talking about. I realised I’d been used.”
But then, last October, Kadian – who has a 13-year-old daughter – realised she wasn’t alone.
“I finally felt able to stop blaming myself,” she remembers. “It gave me the strength to start speaking out and get a lawyer who would take on Weinstein.”
Although Weinstein tried to get Kadian’s case dropped, in August a US judge ruled it can go ahead, with a date to be set.
“I am nervous about the court case, but I hope to get justice,” says Kadian. “My daughter is so proud of me.”
Since last November there has been a global spike in rape and sexual assault reports, including a 201% rise in calls to the National Sexual Assault Hotline in the US and a 30% increase in France. Rape Crisis in England and Wales reported a 30% spike in calls to its helpline. A recent UK poll also revealed young people are more likely to denounce sexual harassment after #MeToo.
Even so, it wasn’t until May this year that Weinstein was finally arrested in New York. He was charged with rape and several other counts of sexual abuse against two women, including aspiring actress Lucia Evans, who claims Weinstein forced her into oral sex in 2004.
After pleading not guilty, the disgraced producer was released on £750,000 bail, and has since been required to wear an ankle monitor.
Sixty-two-year-old Paula Wachowiak, an employment specialist from New York, says when she heard the news about Weinstein, she wasn’t shocked. Paula first met Weinstein after landing her dream internship as a production assistant on his film The Burning in 1980.
“Stepping on set, I was awestruck,” recalls Paula. “Harvey was always around because he was the boss, but he came across as quite dismissive.”
A few weeks into her internship, Paula was asked to take cheques to Weinstein’s hotel room for signing. “He opened the door but stood behind it, so I couldn’t see him,” she alleges.
“When I entered I realised he was naked apart from a small towel around his waist, which he dropped as I handed him the folder. He sat down and placed the folder over his lap, but I felt incredibly uncomfortable.
“I wanted to appear professional, so kept telling myself that this was Hollywood and that’s just how people acted. Then he started complaining about a kink in his shoulder and asked for a massage. I was repulsed. I was a tough young woman, but still felt intimidated telling him that wasn’t part of my job description.
“He kept trying to say that working for him was a fantastic opportunity. I agreed, but insisted I wouldn’t touch him. I’ll never forget his smarmy look. He wasn’t upset or offended – it was like he found it amusing. Finally he gave up, signed the cheques and let me leave.”
However, the ordeal left Paula shaken. “Afterwards, I burst into tears,” she remembers. “I told a friend and then my boss, who apparently confronted Weinstein. Reporting it didn’t even cross my mind because I didn’t think anything illegal had happened.”
After that, Paula managed to avoid Weinstein on set.
“But then, just before my internship ended, he pulled up in his car and asked if seeing him naked was my highlight,” she alleges. “I was scared, but I blurted out that he disgusted me. He just laughed and drove off.”
It was only when Weinstein was outed last year that Paula finally felt she should go public with her story.
“Getting everything off my chest was a relief, and I felt satisfied that he was being held accountable,” she admits. “Since I came forward, a lot of women have told me that they’ve experienced similar. I know some people ask why we didn’t report the abuse at the time, but it’s a different era now.”
However, while #MeToo has been game-changing for women, the campaign hasn’t been without scandal. In August it emerged that Asia Argento – one of the driving forces behind the movement – had settled a sex abuse claim for £300,000 after actor Jimmy Bennett claimed they had sex while he was under the age of consent in 2013.
Meanwhile, in January actress Catherine Deneuve signed a statement opposing the “media lynching” of men accused of inappropriate behaviour, while actor Sean Penn declared the movement was being “led by mania”.
In the UK, Germaine Greer suggested some women need to toughen up, and Dame Judi Dench admitted she didn’t want the campaign to “get out of hand”. So what will the next 12 months hold?
“There’s still work to be done in changing attitudes to sexual assault,” explains Sarah Green, co-director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition.
“The justice system and everyone who minimises or makes excuses for perpetrators will not be able to do so for much longer.”
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Sarah Jones adds: “We need to keep talking, as success will only come if and when this message is carried on by younger generations.
“So many women can identify with these high-profile cases, but in the past have been too scared to say anything. Now, that’s changing, which means #MeToo isn’t just a campaign, it’s a true movement.”