After The New York Times published a stunning article saying Hollywood Producer Harvey Weinstein has been sexually abusing various Hollywood actresses and models throughout his career, the discussion of sexual assault has surfaced to the front page news.
The article stated that Weinstein, popular for movies like Django Unchained and Gangs of New York reached many settlements with women who accused him of sexual abuse.
Actress Ashley Judd came out criticizing the producer saying he sexually assaulted her when she was a young, eager actress trying to break into the business.
Judd is not the only actress that has come forward. Since then, actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Kate Beckinsale and 54 others have come forward with stories about Weinstein’s abuse.
Alyssa Milano, popular for her role on King of Queens and Saved By The Bell posted on Twitter “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.” This statement caused an uproar of many people, men AND women, to come forward and declare that they have been sexually assaulted.
Grace Guiedau, a MSU senior, posted a #MeToo tweet. But was hesitant at first because she was nervous it would cause repercussions, but once she saw how many people she knew that were posting, it gave her more confidence.
“I saw my cousins, aunts, family members posting,” she said. “It just goes to show that it can happen to anyone.”
Michigan State University junior Meg Notoriano has had enough with sexual assault. She started a campaign called “We Know What Happened” which is an apparel business that Notoriano hands out to those that want to take the effort to stop sexual assault.
“I want people to be aware of what is going on and get involved,” she said.
There are many sexual assault prevention programs on campus. SARV, sexual assault and relationship violence program, and the SAP, sexual assault prevention, try to partner with MSU and require sexual assault prevention training videos for every student to take.