#MeToo exposes scale of sexual violence against women

“Me too.”

If you’re seeing that a lot on social media, pay attention. It’s a message being spread by women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted.

The trending topic comes after more rape allegations were made against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Actresses including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rose McGowan said Weinstein used his position of influence to proposition them, touch them, and rape them.

Actress Alyssa Milano, who starred opposite McGowan in “Charmed,” posted a suggestion on Twitter for women to stand in solidarity with one another.

If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. pic.twitter.com/k2oeCiUf9n

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) October 15, 2017

By early Monday more than 200,000 Tweets using the #metoo tag had been published according to Twitter. The trend moved from there to other social networks with women and men sharing stories of assault and abuse.

Me too https://t.co/ScX67Kmmiy

— Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) October 15, 2017

Me too

— Anna Paquin (@AnnaPaquin) October 15, 2017

Me too. I don’t know if means anything coming from a gay man but it’s happened. Multiple times.

— Javier Muñoz (@JMunozActor) October 15, 2017

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted to expel Weinstein from their ranks over the weekend. He has claimed the encounters were consensual.

Statistics show every 98 seconds a person in the United States is sexually assaulted. If you are a victim, the National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 1-800-656-4673.