How Far "Me Too"

            The “Me Too” movement began quietly enough in 2006 when Tarana Burke, a black woman and survivor of sexual assault coined the term. She wanted to help other women and girls who had also been victims of sexual violence. She could not possibly have known how the term would explode into an international movement demanding the heads of famous people all over the world who have been identified as sexual predators.

            In the United States, “Me Too” erupted with the New York Times story on October 5, 2017, that exposed Harvey Weinstein for decades of sexual harassment against women, including Ashley Judd who described in detail the Hollywood producer’s assault against her. In rapid succession, accusations rolled in and claimed the careers of notables in the media and in Congress, as well as the entertainment industry. Even the worlds of sports, music, medicine, academia, and the military have not been immune. And new light was shone on the long-ignored or excused sexual predations of people like Bill Clinton and Roman Polanski.

            For me, as a Catholic, the newest revelations of the Church’s abysmal response to the widespread abuse of as many of 1,000 minors by 300 priests in Pennsylvania decades ago are particularly troubling. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who was archbishop of Pittsburgh at the time, is accused of covering up the abuse instead of dealing with it forcefully.  Wuerl is also in big trouble with the pope for defending retired Cardinal Theodor McCarrick, his predecessor as archbishop of Washington, who reportedly preyed on seminarians and had a 20-year history of molestation.

            How much farther will the offshoots of “Me Too” reach? Will we see positive results like the end of the sex trafficking and pornography rackets here and abroad? Will the practice of sexual mutilation of women by Muslims earn the universal revulsion and condemnation it deserves? Indeed, what will it take to eradicate sexual abuse and degradation of women and children in this world?

            As the movement created by Tarana Burke has shown, victims must not be afraid to speak up. Silence, even in the most sacred precincts, is not an option when innocence and human dignity are at risk.