Activist Tarana Burke On Founding The #MeToo Movement, Ending Sexual Violence And What Gives Her Hope
Activist Tarana Burke started the #MeToo movement in 2006, as part of her work advocating for survivors of sexual abuse, particularly in the Black community in her home city, New York. It would be another 10 years before the viral hashtag took the world by storm, as part of the global reckoning that took place following the allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Almost 20 years on, the #MeToo founder is still defiant. She tells ELLE UK what gives her hope today.
What are the core values of #MeToo that haven't changed since you began the movement almost 20 years ago?
Healing and action: those values haven’t changed. When I started, I couldn’t see the possibility of eradicating sexual violence. But it was still the dream. At the beginning, it was about wanting to provide the resources, the space for survivors to heal and for those wanting to act. As I’ve gained more access, my vision has grown as I’ve seen more clearly this is a solvable issue. Now we have to make this as big, bold and audacious as possible. We have to take over the world! It may not happen in my life, but it will happen. That is the goal.
What progress is exciting you?
The young people that are getting it right. I see TikToks of people across the gender spectrum who are really talking about consent. These are people who have grown up in the time since #MeToo went viral. Even if they weren’t connected to what was going on in that moment, they have heard about it. Now I have young people coming up to me in the streets saying, ‘Oh I learned about you in history class today’, or ‘I did a project on you in school and now I’m going to college’. I see a cultural shift happening around the conversation on sexual violence. We can have the conversation differently now. That gives me a lot of hope. I love to see it.
#MeToo has become a catch-all phrase that's universally recognised. How do you feel about the way it is used now?
I’ve had various feelings about this. It’s part of the lexicon now and it does help people – they understand what it means right away when they hear it. So that’s the positive. But while #MeToo is synonymous with ending sexual violence, our work is not going out and catching people. We’re trying to move on from the ‘gotcha’ understanding of the work, because it causes people to believe that nothing is going to happen. One of the challenges left for us is to help people understand that we are an international organisation in 133 countries.
Stories of sexual abuse continue to hit headlines. What are your thoughts on developments around prominent figures, including Harvey Weinstein and Sean 'Diddy' Combs?
When I hear stories like in the case of Cassie and Diddy, I think they are an indication of how the movement has, over time, allowed space for people to come forward. I see it as evidence that the movement is working. Ten years ago, we wouldn’t have had a case where a woman would come forward and talk about the horrific abuse that they had been enduring. In the case of Weinstein, I think that it is a setback for the judges.
What do you want people to know when they think about the future for #MeToo?
We want people to know that this is their political home. This is where they go for healing and action around sexual violence. This is where they go for safety, to do this work and to take action.
This article was originally published in the September 2024 issue of ELLE.
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