#Timesup takes on 2018

The striking main image on the home page of the Times Up movement.

By Cali Doran

BELLEVILLE – To start off the new year, influential women of Hollywood have teamed together to take the #metoo campaign further and create #timesup. 

Over 300 A-list celebrities started spreading the hashtag #timesup to show the severity of the issue of sexual harassment and assault not only in Hollywood but in all kinds of  workplaces. 

The original campaign #metoo started in October 2017. The hashtag spread virally to show the scope of the issue of sexual harassment and assault. People around the world used the hashtag on social media to admit that they have been victims, and to also support others who have. 

The campaign was addressed in an open letter on the movement’s website to all who have been victims of sexual abuse and harassment in the workplace.

The campaign has a $13 million fund that will be used to provide legal and communications support to victims of workplace sexual harassment. The website also has a GoFundMe page to promote donations for legal defence worldwide.

In the letter, the influential women of Hollywood say: “We want all survivors of sexual harassment, everywhere, to be heard, to be believed, and to know that accountability is possible. We want all victims and survivors to be able to access justice and support for the wrongdoing they have endured.” 

The women also address the importance of equality for women to prevent these issues in the workplace. 

“We seek equal representation, opportunities, benefits and pay for all women workers. Not to mention greater representation of colour, immigrant women, and lesbian bisexual, and transgender women, whose experiences in the workforce are often significantly worse than their white, cisgender, straight peers.”