By Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.
As Time’s Up approaches its one-year anniversary, the anti-sexual harassment organization’s leaders held a conference call Tuesday to address the progress that’s been made since the dawn of the #MeToo movement last October, the current political situation, and what’s left to be done. Among the conversation topics were Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court and the question when, if ever, celebrities accused of sexual misconduct should be allowed to reclaim their platforms.
“We want to say in this post-Kavanaugh moment, we’re not stopping,” one member said, according to Vulture. “We’re fortifying. We’re institutionalizing, and we will not rest until we have achieved safe, fair, and dignified work for women everywhere.”
Time’s up first launched in January of 2018, with the goal of supporting women dealing with workplace abuse and inequity across industries. Earlier this month, the organization announced the appointment of its first president and C.E.O., Lisa Borders. The group has flexed its influence increasingly in recent months, issuing warnings and public statements regarding alleged abusers and the companies that once shielded them. Since January, Borders said on the call, 3,500 people have reached out to Time’s Up for legal help; in about 50 cases, Borders said, the organization was able to provide financial assistance.
One member noted on the call that Kavanaugh’s appointment—which happened despite the credible sexual assault claims against him, which the judge denied furiously—and the atmosphere surrounding it have been deeply traumatizing for many women. But there might be one small silver lining: “I think what we saw [during the hearing] perhaps was perverse fuel for the rocket ship here we are calling Time’s Up. So the sensitivity has certainly been raised, which is really helpful, and we expect that the interest will continue to climb as it already has been,” she said. “But it will accelerate, is what I expect will happen.” Time’s Up’s future goals include getting more women elected to public office, as well as finding ways for both private companies and the government to better process sexual misconduct claims.
What about those who retreated from the spotlight after being accused of sexual misconduct (or admitting to it), but are now tentatively wading back into the public eye? How long should alleged abusers be exiled before they are allowed to return? One member of the group emphasized that Time’s Up does not want to dictate that: “We at Time’s Up are not trying to replace the patriarchy with the matriarchy,” she said. “This is about a world of shared and balanced power. This is not about punishing a person. This is about eliminating the bad behavior.”
“What we’ve said among ourselves is that it’s not for any one organization to rehabilitate a person, to grant forgiveness,” the member continued. “The accused has to make amends with their survivor. But common understanding, expressing real change, understanding the systemic culture that these men have not just perpetrated but lived in and supported—that hasn’t happened very often over this last year among people who have been accused. And the ones who start to do that are going to be the ones who rehabilitate themselves the quickest.” Louis C.K., are you listening?
Credit:Vanity Fair
via USAHint.com
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