Introduction
Societal changes provoke rapid development of the discourse on the issue of aggressive actions against people across the world. As such, the problem of sexual abuse and domestic violence is widespread and of global concern nowadays. One of the most vulnerable categories of the population suffering from physical, emotional, and sexual assaults is women. According to World Health Organization’s data (2021), nearly one-third of all female individuals have experienced various violence against them. In opposition to the injustice towards women, the #MeToo movement emerged to fight sexism and harassment, including the struggle for the detention of gender-based violence. Various stakeholders could incorporate the ideas of the organization in their policy in an educative and supportive form.
Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse
More specifically, domestic violence implies any damage inflicted by an individual in the household conditions to the other person. As was said earlier, under a particular thread of violence are most often women, as almost defenseless and patient population, if distinct by gender. The intensity of the problem could be seen in the researches of the situation during the pandemic. For example, Vora et al. (2020), in their article “COVID-19 and violence against women,” explored the rise in reports of domestic violence in India and China. Since male workers are primarily unemployed and spend their time at home more, their aggressive behavior towards women has increased. Moreover, as Vora et al. (2020) observe, women that continue to work while quarantining face even more violent verbal and physical outbursts from men. This evidence suggests that sexist attitudes lead to domestic violence if authorities or human rights defenders are not intervening. Hence, violence from male abusers is apparently gender-directed.
Gender-related Issues
The other issue concerns sexual assault, which is, similarly to domestic violence, relates to gender. Evidence of Jung et al. (2019) suggests that the cases of childhood abuse lead to future exposure to individual partner violence against an individual. Furthermore, the research revealed that the most dominant type of violence against female children was sexual assault (Jung et al. 2019). This means that some women tend to perceive that violence against them is an everyday phenomenon that could be expected from relatives and friends, not to mention strangers. Additionally, a novel kind of sexual abuse of women has occurred recently. As described in McGlynn, Rackley, & Houghton (2017), women face image-based sexual attacks. Precisely, these attacks present sharing of private photos or videos by ex-partners of females. The fact that women are sexually harassed since their childhood and in such a manner as digital abuse proves that the problem of assault is one particular gender’s burden.
The #MeToo Concern
The difficulties of the female population concerning revealing information about sexual abuse and violence against them provoked the beginning of the #MeToo movement. Initially, the campaign was started by Tarana Burke, a black female activist, as a support program for victims of sexual abuse on social media. Consequently, the movement became widespread, substantiating that the issue of male assaults was accumulating and reached its peak in 2017:
… Two words sent shockwaves throughout the world as the hashtag #MeToo went viral in less than 24 hours. Individuals, leaning on the power of community, found the courage to come forward with their experiences of sexual violence. More than 12 million in the first 24 hours, and over 19 million in the first year (‘Me Too’ Movement 2019).
The Way of Action and Impact of #Metoo
The organization aims at creating the safe environment and initiative for women to share their stories about abusive behavior. At first, sexual assaults from powerful men were significant for the movement, which affected the marketing sphere and working conditions of female employees. However, the movements reached other problems, such as domestic violence. As Williams (2019, Domestic Violence Accusations) cites, “the #MeToo movement has spurred a 30 percent increase in the total number of domestic violence accusations.” This number indicates the significant influence of the program on female openness about their trouble, which may positively impact the abuse situation. Furthermore, the movement is growing exponentially; the central activists plan to organize the program appropriately for better performance. Additionally, they propose such projects as digital help for assault and violence victims, gaining international scale, and promotion in social media and cultural institutions (‘Me Too’ Movement 2019). Therefore, the movement has achieved particular success in its mission and approximated female individuals to comfortable well-being in the workplace and home.
#Metoo’s Significance for Business and Society
The Purpose of #MeToo
The #MeToo movement is significant for two primary reasons. First of all, female employees worldwide suffer from the injustice of the treatment and discomfort because of gender inequalities. The program aims to deliver safety to this group of people to better integrate with society and business. Second, from an economic perspective, the end of harassment and abuse would save money for corporations with female individuals. Oppressed and distanced workers (a term applicable for abused women) causes a decline in the productivity of companies (Hewlett, Rashid, & Sherbin 2017). Thus, the purpose of the movement would be to guarantee the efficient work of females by eliminating violence against them.
The Possible Important Stakeholders of #Metoo
The movement should seek support and gain interest from companies that value human rights. Namely, humanistic corporation ethics presuppose the acceptance of programs as the #MeToo. Apart from organizations centered on justice movements, the large companies may incorporate #MeToo’s initiatives in their policy. Facebook and Microsoft, according to Tulshyan (2018), are the best stakeholders’ candidates for such a campaign. Therefore, the organizations that pursue healthy workplace conditions should be interested in favoring #MeToo.
Analysis of the #MeToo Movement
The Current Situation of Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse Abolishment
The movement captures several important events changing the current state of societal norms and traditions. The organization reveals the silenced violent crimes against a large part of humanity. Women start to realize that domestic violence and sexual assault are not appropriate and should not be forgotten. They are not feared for their reputation and potential firing since the civilized world recognizes their problem and accepts its severity. Next, corporations are changing their policies under the mass wave of harassment reports from their female colleagues. The aggressive behavior of the leaders of corporations as well as ordinary family members is not acceptable anymore. Thus, #MeToo is currently changing the representation of women in the workplace and enhances their lives by abolishing assaults.
The Reasons of #MeToo’s Success
Multiple reasons cause the ongoing activity of the #MeToo movement. The oppression met by women from different countries and cultures has no place in modern society with high standards for the well-being of each individual. Humanistic leaders understand the importance of a healthy environment for their employees both at work and at home. With the help of various researches, firms comprehended that oppressive conditions provoke unhappiness. In turn, women who are sexually harassed or constantly abused present the category of unreliable and ineffective workers. However, this does not mean that they cannot perform better; the solution to the problem lies in the changing of the prevailing circumstances in everyday life of females. Women are finally trusted and allowed to be sincere about their experiences of abuse. In brief, the ideological principles of the movement are embraced by society and business leaders since women’s oppression is not beneficial for either one.
Funders and Donators of #MeToo
The movement is possible because of the strenuous efforts of volunteers and financial support coming from numerous funders. For example, in Impact Report 2019, the organizators of the campaign enumerate their multiple individual donors (‘Me Too’ Movement 2019). These people invested their money in the movement because of their humanistic intentions; mostly, women want to end violence. The list also includes reputable and financially frontier companies:
…New York Women’s Foundation and NoVo Foundation; the corporations and foundations that invested in us, such as CBS, Google, and Levi Foundation; the key funders… such as Melinda Gates, States Made Apparel, Gucci, HBO, and many more; and the project funders who invested in key areas of alignment, such as Pop Culture Collaborative and A&E Networks (‘Me Too’ Movement 2019, p. 6).
Challenges and Opportunities for the Stakeholders
The stakeholders, such as Microsoft and Facebook, may face various challenges while supporting the movement and incorporating its doctrine into their organizations. One of the major concerns is the possibility of false claims coming from women who decided to take advantage of the campaign for some reason (Williams 2019). The other serious issue is unacceptable of the movement advertising governed by the companies by the customers of their services. Williams, a law specialist, illustrates that some people view the movement as a negative phenomenon, an excessive measure. Accordingly, the situation could be complicated by #MeToo proponents who misuse their abilities and usual people who receive the wrong impression.
Nevertheless, the stakeholders can assist in spreading the essential ideas of the movement in complex ways. First of all, they can adopt courses for their workers to shed light on silencing violence against women and limiting aggression for men. Such initiatives would reduce the frequency of possible assaults and create a treatable atmosphere where every worker understands the meaning of the campaign. Secondly, they should allow female workers to consult with a specialist in the field on the problem of domestic violence if they face such. Hence, the challenges for the companies are best treated within its structure by educational process and supportive programs.
Conclusion and Recommendations
To conclude, #MeToo presents a highly influential ideological movement that eliminates gender disparities and violent crimes against women. Stakeholders should participate in the organization’s activities and events to be informed on how to establish a healthy workplace and improve the lives of their workers. They could coordinate special courses for their employees of different genders to prevent harassment and violence. Additionally, it would be helpful to acquire a professional staff who could assist female workers in their issues. Such a decision can support those who have suffered from assaults already and recognize if an individual is facing one.
References List
Hewlett, S, Rashid, R, & Sherbin, L 2017, When Employees Think the Boss Is Unfair, They’re More Likely to Disengage and Leave.
Jung, H, Herrenkohl, T, Skinner, M, Lee, J, Klika, B, & Rousson, N 2019, ‘Gender differences in intimate partner violence: A predictive analysis of IPV by child abuse and domestic violence exposure during early childhood’, Violence against women, vol. 25, no. 8, pp. 903-924.
McGlynn, C, Rackley, E & Houghton, & R 2017, ‘Beyond ‘Revenge Porn’: The Continuum of Image-Based Sexual Abuse’, Fem Leg Stud vol. 25, pp. 25–46.
‘Me Too’ Movement 2019, Impact Report 2019. Web.
Tulshyan, R 2018, How business leaders can stand in support of the #MeToo movement.
Vora, M, Malathesh, B, & Chatterjee, S 2020, ‘COVID-19 and violence against women’, Asian journal of psychiatry, vol. 53, no. 102227.
Williams, S 2019, How Has the #MeToo Movement Impacted Accusations of Domestic Violence.
World Health Organization 2021, Violence against women.
Appendix
Stakeholder map
Research Network
The conducted research encompassed analysis of journal articles on domestic violence and sexual abuse, as well as newspapers’ articles with popular opinions on the #MeToo movement. Mainly, the sources demonstrate the positive impact of the moment on the assault situation. However, newspapers frequently emphasize the negative perceptions and impressions of the campaign both from ordinary people and companies’ leaders.
Case Study Artefacts
“Consider the issue and how responding — or not responding — will impact your employees, clients, customers, shareholders, and your other stakeholders,” Tim Ryan, PwC’s U.S, Chairman and Senior Partner.
“As an employer, we appreciate that Dreamers add to the competitiveness and economic success of our company and the entire nation’s business community,” Brad Smith, Microsoft president, on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“With the support of generous donors and funders, ‘me too.’ International has been hard at work creating the organization’s infrastructure over the last year. ‘me too.’ as an independent grassroots organization is the container through which we will carry our vision for The Movement forward,” #MeToo’s organizators.