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Why Revenge Porn Needs Its Own #MeToo Movement


Nude photos were posted of Leah Juliett on the Internet without their consent when they were 15. As #MeToo has cemented itself in the conversation around sexual safety, Juliett is calling for revenge porn to have a reckoning of its own.

I remember straddling the bathroom counter, attempting to capture the perfect shot of my young body to appease the boy I wanted to like me. I was gay. I was 14. I was in the closet. I was depressed. I wanted to be loved. At first, I refused his request for nude photos, but I felt an overwhelming pressure to satisfy his needs. After almost a year of being asked on and off—I caved. I sent him four nude photos. My life has never been the same.

Quickly after sending those photos, he lost interest in me. I started to come out as gay to my close friends, and I moved on with my life. But several months later, I was in science class when my lab partner pulled out his phone. “Everyone has seen your pictures,” he said—I thought he was attempting to be sympathetic. On his screen was my naked body. He told me that the photos had circulated within a group of boys who traded and collected naked photos of girls in the community, and were posted on a website called Anon-IB, which was seized in April by the Dutch police.

At the time, I was unaware that I had been victimized by revenge porn, the practice of strategically distributing sexual images with the intent to shame, humiliate, or harm a victim. In that moment, ownership of my body was stolen from me—and I feared I would never get it back. Despite attempts to have the images removed, they were consistently reposted. If there was a national movement that fought against the cyber-violence that I was enduring at the time, I would have felt far less alone in my experience. I would have never believed that my silence could be used as a bargaining chip against my shame.

In the past year, we’ve seen the moral arc of the universe of sexual violence slowly bend toward justice. The Me Too movement has created a platform for millions of survivors to tell their stories and seek retribution. Most recently, sexual predator Bill Cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand. And we can’t forget the wealth of other accounts coming out of Hollywood and other industries.

But the work is far from over and the conversation must continue to become more intersectional. As a survivor of revenge porn, I’ve felt left out of #MeToo: We’ve celebrated victim stories, but it still feels like we shame imperfect narratives of victimhood. Photos of my bare breasts and face reached the screens of boys at my high school and across the state, with the intent of exposing my nudity and shaming my body. Does that not make me worthy of justice like any other victim?

I’m not alone: Revenge porn is a form of sexual abuse that has exploited more than an estimated 10 million Internet users in the United States, per the Data & Research Institute. But still, victims are not protected under federal law. And we are certainly not protected in a culture that demands that we “don’t take nude photos in the first place.” Few of us have had our day in court.

“Photos of my bare breasts and face reached the screens of boys at my high school and across the state, with the intent of exposing my nudity and shaming my body. Does that not make me worthy of justice like any other victim?”

Relatedly, in 2014, there was a short-lived uproar after nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and other celebrities surfaced on the Internet without their consent. The man who hacked their accounts, Edward Majerczyk, took a plea deal and was sentenced to nine months in prison and paid $5,700 in restitution. But I don’t think that was enough. The effects of such an invasion of privacy can last a lifetime. Just like with #MeToo, we need the same continued outspoken public advocacy for revenge porn—otherwise, we risk leaving out millions of victims of cyber sexual violence worldwide. It’s time to say #MeToo to revenge porn.

I graduated from my high school, but my nude photos remained online. I realized that this experience would either kill me or drive me into action. I started telling my story in public and made the decision to save my own life. In college, I came out as non-binary, and started using they/them/their pronouns. At the time, #MeToo did not exist to encourage me to speak up and fight against revenge porn. Perhaps if it had been, I would have spoken up earlier. Nevertheless, taking back my life on my own terms has allowed me to start my own movement—one that is intersectional and inclusive for all who have been victimized by cyber-harassment.

Two years ago, I started the March Against Revenge Porn, an internationally-acclaimed grass roots organization dedicated to combating revenge porn through federal lobbying, cyber-sex education, and a series of national protest marches. On April 1, 2017, we marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest New York City’s lack of comprehensive revenge porn legislation.

We march on. This month, we will march in the Boston Pride Parade to shed light on the disproportionate victimization of LGBTQ+ communities by revenge porn. Research from the Data & Research Institute says that 17 percent of all lesbian, gay, and bisexual Americans have been victimized by revenge porn—in comparison to only 3 percent of all heterosexual people.

And at the end of June, we will march in Pittsburgh, alongside anti-revenge porn groups BADASS and 50 Shades of Silence, to fight for federal revenge porn legislation protecting victims nationwide. Later this year, we plan to march at the University of Hawaii and hope to bring a march to Orlando.

The Me Too movement was born from the strength and courage of those who society has historically refused to hear. Since telling my story, I’ve been told that what happened to me was my fault. It’s easier for society to blame and silence me than to allow me to take up space. I am not a perfect victim. My story is tough to digest. I sent the photos that would eventually be used to exploit me. But I did not consent to be harassed, exposed, or publicly shamed. I refuse to silence the story of my suffering and hope that others will come forward and speak about their own experiences. We belong in this movement. We refuse to be invisible any longer. Through marching; through movement; through saying #MeToo: we demand to be seen.

Leah Juliett is a senior at Western Connecticut State University and a 2018 Glamour College Woman of the Year.



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What 1,147 Men Really Think About #MeToo


Get a group of women together—over dinner, drinks, or direct message—and #MeToo eventually comes up. But broach the movement with the men in your life? We’re betting you’ll hear crickets. It’s understandable—we’re in a brave new era without a rule book. It’s hard for men to know exactly what to say. (In fact, when Glamour tried to assign a male reporter to interview real men on their attitudes, he came back from the bars empty handed. “I’ve frankly never had such a dead end with a reported piece,” he told us. No one, he said, was willing to say “anything worthwhile on the record.”)

But for change to happen, we have to start talking. So we partnered with our brother mag GQ to begin having these difficult conversations. We created a survey and sourced answers from more than 1,000 men between the ages of 18 and 55 from all across the country. The responses were anonymous. And the results were…complicated. Some respondents were skeptical: “[This movement] will stigmatize men and lead to further distrust of women.” Others were hopeful: “High-powered creeps are already out of jobs. I have no idea how that cannot help.” But all were honest. As one admitted, “I work in a kitchen. We are all miscreants. Everything said on the line is probably considered sexual harassment by someone who doesn’t work in the industry.”

We tore through the data to find some of the most illuminating insights into how men think. And then we got busy parsing out its many implications. While at times frightening and infuriating, there are also moments of clarity that show how the social reckoning is affecting change. What follows is as close to a blueprint as we have on the male brain as it pertains to Me Too.

Want to see more on our survey results from the GQ point of view? Read their analysis here.

Men’s Real Thoughts on #MeToo May Surprise You (Hint: Nearly One in Two Hasn’t Heard of It)

Let this sink in for a second: a whopping 41 percent of men told us they’ve never heard of the Me Too movement. Those who were unaware were generally younger, southern, married, and more likely to report an annual income of $100,000 or more. Oh, and having a college degree doesn’t make a man any more likely to be in the know than his less-educated peers. Across the board, when it comes to the topic of accusations of sexual misconduct, men are very unlikely to share their opinions with the women in their lives.

We asked men to describe in their own words: How have the men you know reacted to the #MeToo movement? What words or phrases do you hear used the most? They answered:

Some were hopeful: “For the most part, the men I’ve talked to have said that a lot of ‘powerful people’ need to be outed for their heinous actions, because this stuff has gone on way too long and has been met with too much silence and cowering.”

Some were torn: “Most men I talk with have been extremely supportive. Others have expressed fears of a mob mentality, especially when the pitchforks go up immediately without due process. But many have mentioned Donald Trump as the cover boy for sexual harassment. Men are disturbed [by the fact that he] is suffering no consequences for grabbing women ‘by the pussy.'”

Some were anxious: “Most men are unsure of how to handle speaking to women on a normal basis. Now they are even more unsettled and confused about how to approach a woman, handle a conversation or give a compliment. Some have said that the movement may not have a true, lasting effect.”

Some cited generational divides: “Younger men acknowledge the problem, but older men tend to dismiss it as overblown.”

Some were angry: “The men are afraid that if they even look [at a woman] the wrong way, they might get sued or fired. They are saying that men are getting pushed out of the flirting game. And that most women these days are turning to each other for sex.”

Read More: What Is Sexual Harassment? A Glossary of the #MeToo Movement

Men Tend to Think Women Who Come Forward Are Treated Fairly

The topic of women who have come forward with allegations of assault and misconduct were equally divided. GQ’s Benjy Hansen-Bunden sums up the on-the-ground sentiment like this: “I think the lesson a lot of guys learned very quickly during all the Me Too revelations, myself included, was that this moment called for men to basically shut up and listen for a while. Now it feels like we’re in a new phase—it’s time to start the conversation about how we fix the big structural problems. I mean, a guy who groped women still got elected president. So everyone has to participate. But I think guys are still a little wary. One guy wrote, ‘The movement doesn’t come across as inclusive to men.’ To be honest, I feel some of that trepidation too.” And despite studies that show speaking up about sexual harassment often comes with repercussions, the majority of men think accusers get the benefit of the doubt.

We asked men for their honest thoughts on the topic of women who come forward:

Some were skeptical: “A lot of women wait years, sometimes 10 or more, to come forward. It’s usually to get money or to hurt an ex. If it really happened, they would have gone to the police right away,” said one. “If something happens to someone, and you feel like you have to wait or hide it before bringing it to light, you shouldn’t bring it up at all,” offered another. While many brought up the topic of due process: “It depends. Is she being truthful? Was there a proper investigation? I hope that all people, in general, are taken seriously when making an allegation like this.”

Some were fed up: “Most of the time men are treated unfairly. Equality is a lie when it comes to men’s rights,” said one. “[Women] are believed once they make the accusation. They don’t have to prove anything,” offered another.”

Some felt coming forward is a lose-lose scenario: “I have witnessed how black-and-white things become when a woman makes such an accusation. I have seen a good man convicted and condemned for a female speaking up with a false accusation. The man had no chance. He lost his job and freedom. His reputation was permanently and irreparably damaged. His family was torn apart. I have also seen it work the other way around, too. Either way, the woman comes out the other end a victim and a champion, but as a tramp and a hussy too. [At least] from the offender and their associates’ point of view.”

Some sided with accusers: “Considering [there are] women who’ve been [issued] death threats … for coming forward, I don’t think they are treated fairly. In fact, I don’t think any victims are treated fairly—women, men, or other identifiers. All are dismissed and looked down upon after coming forward,” said one. “Depending on the culture of the business where the harassment takes place, a brotherhood can exist. Or the idea that ‘boys will be boys.’ I have personally seen women come forward [about] sexual harassment, only to be shot down by the ‘big boss’ due to the fact that the aggressor was an important cog in his business. I’m sure this happens often,” offered another.

Read More: What to Do When Someone You Know Has Been Accused of Sexual Harassment

Male Perceptions on Consent Are Perhaps the Most Confounding

Overall, men’s attitudes toward consent made us feel hopeful: A full 77 percent of men said it’s a must to get consent at every stage of a sexual encounter. But go deeper into our findings, especially about married or dating couples, and the data is a bit more…patriarchal. In fact, 59 percent of men agreed that husbands were “entitled to” sex with their wives (46 percent agreed that boyfriends were “entitled to” sex with their girlfriends). And in terms of communicating consent, men aren’t waiting for clear, verbal cues: 35 percent told us that when it comes to gauging whether a sexual partner is enjoying a sexual encounter, “I don’t need to do much; it’s usually obvious.” And to convey their own interest, 60 percent of men say they rely on physical cues—such as looking at a partner, moaning, or pulling a partner closer. Glamour‘s Justine Harman and GQ‘s Benji Hansen-Bundy discussed the findings.

GQ: Well, at the very least this one data point—that 77 percent of men said it’s a must to get consent at every stage of a sexual encounter—shows that most men are not horrible monsters.

GLAMOUR: But I feel like if I were at a sports bar or a frat, the way I would be treated by men would be different than what our findings suggest. Especially since 50 percent of guys ages 18 to 34 agreed with this statement: “If your partner is willing to kiss you, she must be willing to do other sexual acts.” That means Aziz Ansari–type scenarios, where the man and the woman are having very different experiences during the same sexual encounter, will continue.

GQ: I wish I could say I thought we’d see an immediate reduction in those Aziz-type situations, but I think it’s going to take time. These stats probably speak to the broader fucked-up-ness of our sex education in this country. I’d also say that the discussion seems to be missing a broader examination of human sexuality so far. For example, when we asked, “How do you define the boundary between unwanted but harmless ad­vances and harassment?” there was this pervading sense of defeat in the answers. One guy said, “I feel that there is no line anymore, so you better just keep to yourself.” For as long as Western literature has covered courtship, it’s almost always the man in pursuit of the woman, with varying degrees of doggedness.

Read More: #MeToo Forced Me to Reevaluate Own Sexual History—and I’ve Taken Advantage of Women

GLAMOUR: When one guy said, “The principle that I employ is that everyone gets one free pass. When you put your interest out, regardless of how overt or covert the advance was, that is all that you are entitled to,” I had to pause. Back when I was single, I would always turn down the first inquiry—a guy had to try at least twice to prove he was actually interested. It was all part of the game.

GQ: That’s what I mean. It can feel like there’s some cognitive dissonance between what is by-the-books acceptable and what actually works between two people. It made me nervous to say that out loud. We’re definitely opening a can of worms.

GLAMOUR: I’m sweating.

Read More: Your Best Consent Ever: How You Both Can Get the Sex You Want

Men Are Scared…Which May Be a Good Thing

In some ways, this movement is (shockingly) having little to no effect: The majority of men we surveyed in very top jobs still hadn’t heard of Me Too. And the movement is at least some men to be fearful. About one-third of men ages 18 to 55 say they’re personally worried about being wrongly accused of sexual harassment at work. (Those with self-reported incomes over $100K were significantly more likely to be worried.) This fear could be actually be a good thing: “It’s part of a course correction,” says Hansen-Bundy. “The data also shows that younger men are more likely to say Me Too will improve workplace equality, which I think shows that the movement may be educating guys on a broader cultural level.”

Read More: What to Do When You’ve Been Sexually Harassed At Work

Justine Harman is the features director of Glamour; Benjy Hansen-Bundy is a senior associate editor at GQ.



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Ashley Judd: What Harvey Weinstein's Arrest Means for #MeToo


Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood producer accused of numerous incidents of sexual assault and misconduct, turned himself into authorities on Friday after facing charges of of first- and third-degree rape and committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree. The news was met with an outpouring of emotion from women who had spoken out against Weinstein in the past—and on Saturday, actress and Weinstein accuser Ashley Judd penned a powerful op-ed for Time about what his arrest means for the future of #MeToo.

“When the news broke that Harvey Weinstein would be surrendering himself on rape and sexual assault charges, I didn’t have a reaction,” she wrote. “As I spoke with others for whom the ground was shaking I realized my feeling was that a sexual predator being legally accountable for criminal behavior is and should be normal, routine and not particularly newsworthy. And I also understood why it is thunderous news.”

Judd continued by writing that Weinstein’s arrest—his turning-in of himself—marked a significant turning point in how society and the criminal justice system addresses the alleged crimes of powerful men, who have often used their own power to make themselves immune to consequences.

“And in this moment, in this era, that a powerful man who thrived and flourished in a culture of impunity was arrested and charged is resoundingly significant. It is a watershed event, an irreversible pivot away from tacit and explicit license to exploit to a ground of firmer boundaries and clarity about intolerable behavior no longer being tolerated,” she wrote.

Still, she expressed disappointment about Weinstein’s own approach to the charges: He had an opportunity to take accountability for his years of allegedly damaging and hurting women but has instead chosen to plead not guilty.

“I was hopeful Harvey would plead guilty, that his surrender was volitional, so that in addition to carving out a singular position of disgrace, he could come forward as the predator who walks out of shame onto a new path of humility, introspection, accountability and amends, thereby leading our men and country in the necessary and inexorable trajectory of restorative justice,” she wrote. “It seems that Harvey, though, will not be the person to do that, as he is pleading not guilty and still maintains, in the face of so many accusations, that all sex was consensual. Denial can stand for ‘I don’t even know I am lying,’ and it appears that is where Harvey still lives.”

Judd ended her piece saying that the movement will have to continue waiting for an “accused who can and will embody what the #MeToo movement and our society needs and wants: someone who can navigate the duality of having aggressed and address their abuse of power with culpability and integrity.”

She concluded that “restorative justice is also dual; in order for survivor-victims and society to embrace and restore the reformed, the reformed must have been genuinely transformed, shedding layers of toxic masculinity, exiting the denial/apology tour and standing in a new and collective space where both the person is and the narrative are made whole and unified.”

Her point touches on an important part of the #MeToo discussion: Many people wonder if there should be a path forward for the scores of accused predators, abusers, and harassers.

Where #MeToo goes from here, as those accused begin to plan their comebacks, is a critical question that powerful figures in the movement are beginning to address. For more, read how #MeToo founder Tarana Burke outlines the next steps for the movement—and lays out how you can participate.

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What TV Will Look Like After #MeToo



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This New Program Aims to Hold the Fashion Industry Accountable in the Age of #MeToo


The claims made against Harvey Weinstein alleging the decades-long abuse of women put the spotlight on the #MeToo movement, and opened up a conversation around sexual harassment which has ricocheted across industries, from entertainment to media. It certainly has touched the fashion world, too, as new light is shed on the lack of protections for the young and vulnerable, particularly models, who operate within it. And while there has been awareness and small steps for reform in the past year—notably by luxury conglomerates Kering and LVMH, who jointly established a code of standards to protect the well-being of models—not much has changed in the larger picture.

Now the question is: What comes next?

The Model Alliance, a group founded in 2012 by Sara Ziff, founder and executive director, that advocates for models’ rights by supporting legislation (such as the Child Model Labor Bill, passed in New York in 2013) and strategic partnerships (such as one with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to create private changing areas during New York Fashion Week earlier this year), is seeking to address just that with its newly-unveiled RESPECT Program. It’s a legally-binding contract between models, agencies, designers, and publishing companies to hold people accountable at every level of the industry hierarchy for the mistreatment of models; companies who sign on and don’t follow through with the terms outlined in the document would be in breach of contract and subject to legal action, the thought being that the suggested codes of conducts that have been considered the norm haven’t worked.

The RESPECT Program was unveiled last week in an open letter. More than one hundred models showed public support for it, including Karen Elson, Doutzen Kroes, and Edie Campbell. It reads in part:

RESPECT will go beyond addressing specific acts of sexual harassment,and also seek to foster a work environment that is no longer fertileground for abuse.

Every company in our industry says it abhors sexual harassment andwants to protect those at risk of abuse. We believe that if a companyis serious about protecting us, it will be willing to go beyond merepromises to do better and embrace enforceable standards, with realteeth.

“It’s become abundantly clear that sexual harassment doesn’t exist in a vacuum and that the power imbalance between models and agencies and their clients needs to be addressed,” Ziff told Glamour.

To figure out exactly how to do that, Ziff and the Model Alliance held listening sessions with models. “We heard things like, ‘How can we say no to inappropriate demands when we are waiting three to ten months to get paid for a job? What if I’m pressured to pose nude, or to lose weight by my agency or get dropped?’”

The RESPECT Program’s stipulations stem from Ziff’s own experiences, having worked as a model herself.

PHOTO: Patrick McMullan

Ziff backstage at a Cynthia Steffe fashion show in February 2004.

“About a decade ago I brought forward concerns about [photographer] Terry Richardson [after I worked with him] and it fell on deaf ears for the most part,” she tells Glamour. “I didn’t want this to just be a Band-Aid, I wanted this to be meaningful.” Ziff’s story is familiar: Models had accused Richardson, a photographer, of sexual assault and harassment for years, but many brands and publications continued to work with him on high-profile projects. (This includes some work for titles within Condé Nast, which publishes Glamour.) In the wake of Weinstein, though, companies began to distance themselves from him, pledging to stop commissioning his work. In recent months, models have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against other famous photographers, including Mario Testino and Bruce Weber, as well.

Central to the RESPECT Program is that signatories would be required to enlist some kind of independent third party to file complaints, so models wouldn’t feel forced to report bad behavior to the exact people who sign their paychecks. It also would require that models get paid on time for their work, so they don’t become increasingly indebted to their agency (and because of that, ultimately feel unable to report abuses). There would also be a comprehensive training on rights and responsibilities for participants. And, if someone is reported to be a serial sexual predator, anyone who’s signed the RESPECT Program contract would have to stop working with them altogether.

ERDEM - Runway - LFW February 2018

PHOTO: Victor VIRGILE

Ultimately, what would make this program such a big step in the industry is the fact that it’s a legally binding agreement. “[People who sign it] are sending the message, this is not just about platitudes, this is not just a PR move,” she explains. “We’re going to stand by this.”

Ziff has already presented the program to Condé Nast and several modeling agencies. She hopes to see companies ranging from publishers to fashion brands participate, because there’s still a lot of work to be done to prevent sexual harassment in the industry.

“Karl Lagerfeld made those disappointing comments a few weeks ago and a lot of prominent people didn’t take issue with it. It’s more important than ever to draw a line that we are not going to tolerate sexual harassers or enablers.”

Related Stories:

Ashley Graham Just Opened Up About Her Own Horrible #MeToo Story

A Shocking Number of People Think Women Are Making False #MeToo Claims, New Study Finds

Denouncing #MeToo Is Feminism Devouring Itself



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Anita Hill Rutgers Commencement Speech: We Will Never Be The Same After #MeToo


Before there was #MeToo, there was Anita Hill.

Nearly three decades after her historic testimony against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, Hill stepped up to a podium Thursday to say the world has irrevocably changed after the scandals that have engulfed powerful men from Washington to Hollywood.

“What happens now? I would say we will never be the same after the Me Too movement — after such revelations of sexual violence. We can never, as a society, ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist,” Hill told law graduates at Rutgers University, where she delivered the 2018 commencement speech.

“We can’t be the same as we were before, and we certainly can’t go backwards when we know that so many people are hurting and suffering.”

Hill’s 1991 testimony against Thomas, who had been her supervisor at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was a watershed moment in how Americans discussed and viewed allegations of sexual harassment.

In televised hearings stunning for their day, Hill, a black woman, reported to a 14-member Senate panel of white men that Thomas, a black man, had come on to her while they worked together. She detailed how he talked to her crudely, and at length, about porn, sex and body parts.

In one case, she reported, per transcripts published by NPR, “The incident involved his going to his desk — getting up from a work table, going to his desk, looking at this can and saying, ‘Who put pubic hair on my Coke?'”

Thomas, in turn, defended himself, saying, in part, “From my standpoint, as a black American, as far as I’m concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas.”

In the end, of course, Thomas was confirmed to the position on the nation’s high court, which he still holds today.

Hill wrote in a 2017 New York Daily News op-ed following the Harvey Weinstein scandal that “since 1991, when I testified about my own experience with sexual misconduct at Judge Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearing, I regularly hear from individuals who have attempted to stop the abuse they face.”

She also said during a panel discussion that year that she felt her experience had made an impact: “In today’s atmosphere, there would be more people who would understand my story, who would believe my story, and I think the numbers have changed over the year in terms of people who believe me and support me.”

In the time since she questioned — and was questioned about — Thomas’ behavior, Hill said it’s clear some change has come.

“There are movements across the country that have let the world know that campuses should be safe for all,” she told her listeners, pushing them to declare “that we will not be silent again about sexual predation… You, too, fight sexual assault and violence by being an ally.”

Hill, now a law professor at Brandeis, added, “Uncertainty prevails only if it can make cowards of us all, and we can defeat uncertainty if we boldly stand for justice and fairness.”

Despite her personal case and its outcome, Hill told the Rutgers graduates, “Students of all genders have claimed something very basic — so basic, it’s hard to believe it’s even debatable, but the right to have an education free from sexual violence. We all deserve that.”

Yet, she said, “In age of harsh and sometimes immediate backlash that can be delivered nearly instantly and anonymously online with a click of a mouse, challenging the status quo is still risky.”

Hill said some believe society got to “the Me Too” point through the forces of social media: “Trust me, this is a profound moment in our time. But I don’t believe we got here because of social networks or the platforms,” she argued. “I believe we got here because of our enduring longing for community, especially in uncertain times.”

With nods to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s writings on the pursuit and defense of justice, Hill also urged the class to work toward removing barriers created by race and gender “to make sure that more capable and competent people are in our ranks [and] receive the education that they can and would use if they had the opportunity.”

Movements are important, but so is the quest to keep their driving ideas alive, she said.

She told the newly trained lawyers seated before her that they were equipped to go on to shepherd through legislation to protect “the right to live and work and be educated in safe environments.”

Hill, who will also speak at the City College of New York commencement on June 1, asked her Rutgers audience to make a pact with her, no matter where the law might take them.

“I want you to promise me, and your classmates, that you will make a commitment to social justice part of whatever work or careers you enter,” she said. “And you can do that.”





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Cannes to Launch Sexual Harassment Hotline Following Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo


With help from the French government, the Cannes Film Festival is planning to launch a hotline that victims can call to report incidents of sexual assault or harassment at the event this year, following allegations that producer Harvey Weinstein had assaulted multiple women during the prestigious festival in the past.

At a press conference in Paris Friday, Marlène Schiappa, France’s gender equality minister, said those attending the festival would be warned to mind their behavior when they arrive at the French Riviera for the 2018 festival, which kicks off May 8, according to Agence France-Presse,

“We’ve gone into partnership with the Cannes Film Festival to tackle sexual harassment and set up a helpline,” Schiappa said at the event. “One of the rapes that Harvey Weinstein is accused of happened at Cannes, and so the festival cannot fail to act.”

Actresses including Alice Evans, Annabella Sciorra, Judith Godrèche, and Zoë Brock have all come forward with stories of unwanted advances Weinstein allegedly made toward them at hotels during the multiday film festival. Actress Asia Argento told The New Yorker that in the French Riviera in 1997, Weinstein forcibly performed an oral sex act on her. Weinstein has denied all nonconsensual sexual activity.

Cannes has spoken out against Weinstein in the past. After accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse were reported in The New Yorker and The New York Times, festival director Thierry Frémaux and president Pierre Lescure released a statement, condemning his actions.

“These acts are part of an unpardonable behavior that can only give rise to a clear and unqualified condemnation,” the statement read. “Our thoughts go to the victims, to those women who have had the courage to testify and to all the others. May this case help to denounce once again serious and unacceptable practices.”

People have criticized Cannes for other issues of gender inequality and representation over the years. Although Cate Blanchett was chosen to be this year’s jury president, The Guardian points out that few women directors actually make it into the annual festival selections (only three women will compete for the top festival prize, the Palme d’Or, this year). The upcoming competition also marks a return for Lars von Trier, the Danish director whose production company was accused of sexual harassment and who had been banned from the festival for seven years after making anti-Semitic remarks.



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