Global #MeToo Harassment Stories You May Have Missed

It’s been over a year since the #MeToo movement — to combat sexual harassment and abuse — gained a foothold in the US and ignited a larger global discussion. The hashtag first took off in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal that rocked Hollywood, but in 2018, women said #MeToo in many other settings, from Sweden’s tech industry to the international aid sector.

#MeToo and a number of other similar campaigns — such as #NotYourHabibti , #NiUnaMenos and #BalanceTonPorc — arose in Argentina, Australia, China, France, Haiti, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden and South Korea. The list goes on.

Here are 10 global #MeToo stories that you might’ve missed in 2018:

1. Women who have told their stories publically in Japan have been shamed. The face of #MeToo in Japan is a journalist named Shiori Ito, who says she was raped by an older journalist, the biographer of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She came forward publicly in May 2017.

2. Seizing on the national outrage, many women suggested either boycotting the Running of the Bulls or attending it dressed in black. Pamplona feminists ultimately rejected both forms of protest, calling them detrimental to their decadeslong work to “reclaim” the festival for women.

3. In the very Catholic countries of South America, feminists are fighting to change basic cultural attitudes about women. That’s the case in Paraguay, at the heart of the continent. Two women have paid a personal price to send a message about domestic violence.

4. Inspired by the #MeToo movements that spread around the world last fall, #Teknisktfel is a petition, hashtag and website run by seven women in Sweden’s tech industry dedicated to chronicling the harassment and discrimination that women in the field face every day.

[More]