Abstract

Nine in ten women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. It was the #MeToo movement that made sexual harassment a focal point, assessed the growing concerns, endeavoured to shift public perceptions and redefined legal reforms. Through desk-based research, this paper discusses the emergence of the #MeToo movement, how it became a global movement and how it led to social justice initiatives across the world. In the paper, we investigate the significance the #MeToo movement has had in reshaping the legal field, not just in the United States but around the globe. It is vital in such times to discuss cases regarding sexual harassment and bring forward global experiences to create a safer world, where a woman can work and live securely. 

Introduction

“Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” (Edward Lorenz, 1963)

Catherine MacKinnon uses the above-mentioned quote by meteorologist, Edward Lorenz, to capture how seemingly small actions, like a simple hashtag or a shared story can trigger a cultural, political and legal change. What began as a viral hashtag quickly became a powerful collective global reckoning as survivors across the globe shared their stories. The public discourse around sexual violence was not only reignited but radically transformed. Can the use of a simple hashtag have global impacts, socially and legally? From boardrooms to courtrooms, red carpets to legislative halls, the phrase #MeToo was written to symbolise not only solidarity but also an urge in demand for accountability. Tarana Burke’s grassroots campaign in 2006 gained viral force when actress Alyssa Milano’s tweet in October 2017 invited survivors of sexual harassment and assault to reply, “me too”. Within 24 hours, 4.7 million people on Facebook had contributed to over 12 million posts, and on Twitter nearly one million people used the hashtag. By November 2017, the phrase had been retweeted more than 23 million times across 85 countries, signalling the global scale of the movement (Fox & Diehm, 2017).

The research question guiding this paper is therefore clear: to what extent has the #MeToo movement influenced not only societal discourse on sexual harassment and assault but also tangible legal reforms? We specifically explore the legal tools that have emerged in the United States (hereinafter, US), including nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), the Speak Out Act, changes to the burden of proof and impact on victim protection. Additionally, while the focus is on the US, we also consider responses and legal developments in regions such as Europe, the Middle East and Asia to highlight the movement’s global reach. 

While the cultural impact of #MeToo is undeniable, ranging from the public downfall of powerful figures to increased awareness of everyday harassment, its legal consequences require closer scrutiny. This research paper explores whether the #MeToo’s impact has been primarily symbolic, reshaping conversations and awareness, or whether it has achieved lasting structural change in the law and its enforcement, while acknowledging the possibility of insufficient substantial influence. To assess the movement’s dual legacy, cultural and legal, we analyse high-profile cases such as the Weinstein trials, statutory reforms and international responses. We will also consider the backlash, including debates regarding due process, free speech and fairness to the accused. 

To efficiently respond to the questions raised in this research paper, we must first define the terms “sexual harassment”, “tangible legal reforms” and “non-disclosure agreements”.

⇒ Sexual harassment: unwanted sexual behaviour that makes individuals feel uncomfortable, intimidated or humiliated. 

⇒ Tangible legal reforms: actual changes in the law or legal processes that affect how cases are handled or how people are protected. 

⇒ Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs): While acknowledging that this term might be used differently in other contexts, here, we refer to weaponised legal contractual agreements that prevent victims from discussing sensitive information and pressing charges against unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace.

RESEARCH QUESTION

To what extent has the #MeToo movement influenced not only societal discourse on sexual harassment and assault but also tangible legal reforms?

RESEARCH AIMS

This paper aims to examine the impact of the #MeToo movement by asking whether it only led to a shift in public discourse on sexual harassment and assault or whether it also resulted in substantial legal reforms. The study analyses both cultural and legal dimensions, beginning with the movement’s origins and its role in reshaping public awareness, media narratives and workplace behaviours within the US and other countries. It then investigates statutory and case law developments in the US, including key legislative reforms and landmark trials, before comparing these outcomes with responses in other regions such as Europe, Asia and Africa. By mapping the extent of policy adoption and enforcement across jurisdictions, the paper seeks to determine whether #MeToo’s influence is primarily symbolic or whether it has created lasting structural and legal change. A further aim is to explore how the movement has challenged long-standing barriers to justice, while also examining the debates about due process and fairness. In doing so, the paper will assess both the achievements and the limitations of the #MeToo movement as a driver of legal and social transformation.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The #MeToo movement is a social justice movement and thus, the topic needs to be studied not only using a doctrinal method to outline context and bring clear legal evidence supporting the research question, but also using a desk-based socio-legal human rights method. Desk-based socio-legal human rights research can be defined as research “which engages with a theoretical and analytical framework of legal knowledge and enquiry set in the social context of research” (Peck, 2023). This chosen methodology draws on academic commentary, case studies and interviews to demonstrate how the #MeToo movement has influenced not only public conversation but also brought about a substantive, enforceable change in law and institutions. The authors of this paper acknowledge the interdependence between the law and society, recognising the need for such an interdisciplinary method. Through this approach, the evaluation of changes in the legal field is considered alongside their wider social impacts, thereby ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the movement’s legal and cultural significance. 

Origins and Spread of the #MeToo Movement

Coined in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke, #MeToo’s original purpose was to create a space where victims could feel comfortable sharing their experiences. Burke, in an interview with the New York Times, reveals how “having somebody witness with you (the truth) is – it makes that burden that much lighter, much easier” (Burke, 2006). 

What started as a small support system then turned into a global phenomenon in 2017, when Alyssa Milano used her Twitter platform to encourage women who had experienced sexual harassment or assault to respond with the phrase “me too” (Corbett, 2023). Thanks to social media, millions of women across the United States, and later the world, found an outlet where they could safely share their stories. With a simple hashtag, over 12 million women spoke up. Powerful individuals and institutions, once untouchable, were visibly being held accountable thanks to social media (Corbett, 2023). The movement not only changed the discourse on sexual harassment, but also policies and laws across the United States and beyond. 

Catherine MacKinnon was one of the first to ever introduce the term sexual harassment in the legal field. At the capital University Law Review in 1981, she defined it as “the first legal wrong to be defined by women”. Though the discourse on the latter had been ongoing for several years, it was not until 2017 that it drastically changed (Mitra & MacKinnon, 2018). In October of that year, The New York Times revealed decades of sexual abuse by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The first woman to speak up was the actress Alyssa Milano using the viral hashtag. Overnight, more than a hundred women, including actresses like Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow, came forward with allegations ranging from harassment to rape (Corbett, 2023). The story sparked global indignation and fuelled the rise of the #MeToo movement as we know it. Weinstein used his power to manipulate victims into silence, often offering career advancement in exchange for sexual acts. Many voices emphasised his disturbing patterns: hotel room “meetings”, bathrobes, unwanted touching and coercion. Despite rumours, silence and nondisclosure agreements kept him protected for years. It took nearly three years from the first exposé for Weinstein to be convicted. In February 2020 he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault and sentenced to twenty-three years in prison (BBC, 2023). The long timeline reflects not only the magnitude of his crimes, but also a changing society – a society no longer willing to excuse powerful men. This case proves that individual voices, once dismissed, can create a massive change. “Boys will be boys” is no longer an excuse; now, boys will be held responsible for their actions.

Weinstein is not an isolated case; other successful men such as Roger Ailes (Fox News producer) and Sean Combs (known as Puff Daddy) have been accused of sexual harassment. The scale of the scandal had eye-opening consequences in the United States and globally (Vogelstein & Stone, 2019), with countries developing their own hashtags such as #BalanceTonPorc in France. Within days, over 85 countries were creating their own hashtags or sharing their stories, and with that a new era of accountability began (Vogelstein & Stone, 2019).

In South Korea, televised testimony from prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun sparked a wave of resignations and convictions, including high profile politicians and entertainers. In Sweden, after 18 women accused cultural figure Jean-Claude Arnault of decades long abuse, he was sentenced to prison (Vogelstein & Stone, 2019), and in Egypt, viral footage of Rania Fahmy fighting off her attacker, led to one of the country’s first court rulings on sexual harassment, despite immense social pressure to remain silent (Vogelstein & Stone, 2019). What united these cases is not just the bravery of individual women, but the accumulated force of collective action. Across South Asia, the social taboo was finally being addressed, if not legally, at least socially. The viral nature of this movement connected people across borders, proving that sexual harassment was not a series of isolated incidents, but a systemic issue (Kundu, 2024). The change could not have been possible without social media. As a matter of fact, social media played a pivotal role in bringing these stories to the surface and transforming isolated accusations into global reckoning. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter gave survivors an accessible space to share stories, bypassing traditional media and challenging a system that had always silenced them (Kundu, 2024). The hashtag created a sense of solidarity and visibility, empowering survivors to come forward. What once stayed hidden was now in the spotlight, forcing institutions to respond. Therefore, the flap of a butterfly’s wings in the United States did set off a tornado across the world!

This viral hashtag had an impact both on courts and the legal system. Hundreds of related bills across the United States were passed to protect sexual harassment victims (Volmert, 2025). Before 2017, sexual harassment was considered actionable in legal terms, only if “severe and pervasive”. Furthermore, “women’s sexuality wasn’t going to be seen as the same as men’s and the way men treated women when we were sexually harassed was going to be seen just as a part of the sex difference” said MacKinnon, analysing the global point of view on harassment (Mitra & MacKinnon, 2018). Resigned or forced silences, dismissal of narratives and weaponisation of NDAs was far too common. Thanks to the #MeToo movement, states such as Colorado, Vermont and New York, removed the requirement (severe and pervasive), statutes of limitation were extended with the Adult Survivor’s Act (ASA) and NDAs no longer used to the advantage of the abuser (NWLC, 202). Finally, the public began to see how the legal system had failed survivors and protected abusers. What changed was not just a few laws, it was a cultural redefinition of what constitutes harm, whose voices matter and what accountability looks like.

United States: The Starting Point of the #MeToo Movement

Mapping Legal Changes I: High-profile Cases & Corporate/Institutional Changes

The #MeToo movement has, in many ways, forced big changes in American law, especially in how victims are protected. Previoiusly, the courts used a very strict test: under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, harassment only counted if it was “severe and pervasive”, meaning is that many experiences that survivors clearly described as damaging, were ignored or brushed off as not meeting the threshold (Tippett 2018). After the rise of #MeToo, states like New York, California and Vermont said that the bar was too high and removed it, meaning more kinds of behaviour are treated as unlawful harassment (NWLC 2022).

Another big change concerned the time limits on bringing such cases. Survivors do not usually report right away. In fact, it is very common for them to wait years, sometimes decades, because of shame, trauma or fear of retaliation. The law had been blind to that reality. In 2022, New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, creating a one-year “lookback window”, meaning that people could bring old civil claims back into court even if the deadline had already passed. Other states began following the same approach, acknowledging that speaking out is not simple and never has been (New York State Senate, 2022).

The movement also changed how non-disclosure agreements were used. NDAs had long been a way for employers to stop survivors from ever speaking out in public. After #MeToo, the federal Speak Out Act of 2022 made pre-dispute NDAs in harassment or assault cases unenforceable (Li, Smith & Wang 2023). In practice, this means survivors can no longer be contractually silenced. The law now leans towards openness, transparency and accountability, even if that sometimes clashes with corporate interests.

Procedures inside the courtroom have also shifted. Judges have become more open to what’s called “pattern evidence”. A well-known example is People v Weinstein (2020), where multiple women testified to show repeated abuse. Some critics find this unfair, but others argue that it is the only way to reflect the reality of prosecuting sexual assault, where there are rarely witnesses and the power imbalance is significant (New York Supreme Court, 2020). Additionally, workplace law has also evolved. Employers must now create safer ways for people to report abuse, bring in outside investigators instead of keeping things internal and put real protections in place against retaliation (Heath, 2020).

All these changes add up to something larger: a shift in how the legal system responds to harm and accountability. Lower thresholds, longer timeframes, fewer NDAs and stronger safeguards have made the system more accessible. Conclusively, the #MeToo movement didn’t just change the conversation – it made the law listen, maybe for the first time in a long time.

Mapping Legal Changes II: Legal Impact, Victim Protection & Procedural Safeguards 

While high-profile cases like Weinstein shaped public awareness, the legal mechanisms that followed have also had lasting implications for victim protection and corporate accountability in the US.

Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are legally binding contracts designed to protect confidential information, ensuring that parties cannot disclose specific details without authorisation (Thomson Reuters, 2024). Historically, NDAs were widely used in workplace settlements, including sexual harassment or assault cases, to prevent public discussion of misconduct (Daub et al., 2024). While these agreements offered companies a way to manage reputational risk and protect sensitive information, they also silenced survivors, limiting transparency and accountability. Recent reforms restricting NDAs in sexual misconduct cases empower survivors by allowing them to speak out without legal repercussions. This shift enhances transparency within organisations and fosters accountability for perpetrators, creating ripple effects across corporate culture (Daub et al., 2024; Townsend-Gard, 2024). The legal implications of these reforms continue to evolve as organisations adapt to new standards and courts interpret the scope of enforceability.

Another key legal mechanism shaping victim protection in the US is the burden of proof and due process, which ensures that allegations of sexual harassment or assault are examined fairly while upholding the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”. The burden of proof refers to the standard a party must meet to establish a fact in court (Cornell, 2024). In sexual harassment or assault cases, this often requires the accuser to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate their claims while respecting the rights of the accused (Calcott et al., 2024). Due process complements this by guaranteeing that all individuals are afforded fair procedural treatment, including impartial hearings, the right to present evidence and protections against arbitrary punishment (Tan, 2025). Reforms and heightened awareness following the #MeToo movement have influenced how courts and organisations interpret these principles, striving to balance support for survivors with procedural fairness for defendants (Clarke, 2025; Riso, 2024). By carefully applying the burden of proof and due process, legal systems protect individuals, enhance accountability and foster societal trust in justice (Biggers & Bowler, 2021; Kleinfeld & Dancig-Rosenberg, 2022). These mechanisms ensure that allegations are thoroughly examined while safeguarding rights remain in tact, reinforcing confidence in legal and organisational responses to sexual misconduct.

Following on, the legal reforms following the #MeToo movements have materially improved victim protection by increasing reporting rates, enhancing accountability and strengthening HR protocols (Riso, 2024; Kennedy et al., 2019). Survivors are now more empowered to come forward, reducing the historical shame and stigma associated with sexual misconduct (Canada, 2022). These reforms have also encouraged collaborative networks among victims, enabling solidarity and collective advocacy, which reinforces social and legal pressure on organisations to act responsibly. Overall, the movement has attempted to remove systemic barriers, fostering greater trust in legal mechanisms and signalling a cultural shift toward prioritising survivor safety and organisational transparency (Riso, 2024).

Building on these legal reforms, the concept of a ripple effect describes how a single event can trigger subsequent consequences that spread across different areas. In the context of #MeToo, “butterfly politics” refers to how one high-profile case can influence broader legal and social changes, far beyond the initial incident (Mackinnon, 2017). While the previous section examined cases like Weinstein, the broader impact includes shifts in workplace policies, procedural safeguards and public discourse around sexual misconduct (Diaz, 2022). These ripples demonstrate how high-profile events can catalyse systemic change, connecting social momentum with tangible legal and cultural reforms.

A case study that demonstrates this, for instance, is Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment case against Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, which illustrates the complex interplay between NDAs, corporate culture and systemic reform. Carlson initially settled under a non-disclosure agreement, which legally prevented her from publicly discussing the harassment she endured, exemplifying how NDAs historically silenced survivors and protected corporate reputations (Kredell, 2018). However, her courage in speaking out, combined with media coverage, created significant pressure on organisations to reform internal policies, including the establishment of independent reporting bodies and more transparent HR protocols (Peck, 2024). Beyond Fox News, Carlson’s case contributed to broader #MeToo-inspired changes in workplace culture, encouraging survivors to come forward, fostering accountability for perpetrators and demonstrating how individual legal action can produce social and procedural ripple effects across industries (Dominique, 2022; Cossman, n.d.). This case underscores the importance of legal reforms, such as limitations on NDAs and strengthened procedural safeguards, in empowering survivors while reshaping corporate accountability standards.

Together, these reforms show how the #MeToo movement transformed public outrage into concrete legal mechanisms, strengthening victim protection, promoting corporate accountability and ensuring procedural fairness, while creating lasting ripple effects across social and organisational systems in the US.

The Legal and Cultural Impact in other Regions

The #MeToo social movement, which began as motivation for victims to expose sexual harassment online, has extended far beyond its original intent to implement and reshape legal policies and cultural impacts across areas and regions like Europe, Asia and Africa, encouraging governments to reinforce workplace protections while changing social norms around gender equality and legitimacy.

I. Europe

Over half of European women report experiencing sexual harassment at least once since turning 15, with 32% identifying the perpetrator as a superior, work colleague or customer (Botti et al., 2019). It is therefore unsurprising that #MeToo has had a lasting impact on certain European countries since its popularisation in 2017. However, cultural perceptions, as well as legislative reforms, have varied greatly across the continent.

One defining point of this movement in Europe was the translation of #MeToo into hashtags in the respective national languages. Significantly, this linked online discourse to local societal concerns, therefore giving way for nationwide change. Examples of such hashtags include #BalanceTonPorc (“#DenounceYourPig”) in France, #SistaBriefen (“#TheFinalBrief”) in Sweden and #QuellaVoltaChe (“#ThatTimeWhen”) in Italy. However, to showcase the impact of local internet initiatives efficiently, this paper will focus on the example of France, as tweets calling to “denounce your pig” garnered more online attention than any other European #MeToo equivalent (Botti et al., 2019). The New York-based journalist Sandra Muller first used #BalanceTonPorc to speak out about inappropriate remarks made towards her by former head of the French TV channel Equidia, Eric Brion. Intended to help women share not only their personal experiences, but also specifically name their abuser, the hashtag quickly spread across social media (Diobaye, 2018). It went on to become the most shared European hashtag in the context of #MeToo with 114,283 tweets being shared by over 49,000 users from October 2017 to April 2018 (Botti et al., 2019). However, criticism was quick to follow as certain individuals likened the Twitter campaign to a manhunt, used to shame persons whose guilt had not been explicitly proven (Diobaye, 2018). There is an important distinction between #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc: unlike the former, the latter was created specifically to expose alleged perpetrators. This accusatory aim not only constituted vast backlash but also resulted in legal questions of defamation being raised. Famously, Ms. Muller was faced with such a lawsuit following her claims against Eric Brion and ultimately was ordered to pay him 15,000€ in damages in addition to deleting specific tweets (Chrisafis, 2019). In contrast to France, the response to #QuellaVoltaChe in Italy is reported to have been rather apathetic, with many survivors being scrutinised and even threatened upon sharing their experiences (Botti et al., 2019). 

Viewing #MeToo in Europe from a legal perspective, online activism has varied in effectiveness. Nonetheless, Nordic countries especially have spearheaded legislative reforms concerning sexual harassment in the workplace. For instance, the Swedish government effectively implemented “funding for women’s and girls’ shelters, enhanced sex education in schools, training of leader figures on how to handle sexism and sexual harassment and abuse, and the launching of a sexual consent law” (Hansson, Ganetz & Sveningsson; 2024). Similarly, Denmark amended the Equal Treatment Act, the Working Environment Act and the Vocational Training Act in an attempt to enhance protection towards victims of modern sexual harassment (Riso, 2024). Furthermore, following societal pressure, provisions in the French criminal code were introduced, recognising sexual harassment as a criminal offence (Riso, 2024). Alongside other Western European nations, these countries showcase the positive influences activism against unwanted sexual behaviour has had. While Northern and Central Europe saw significant legislative and social changes due to #MeToo, the movement failed to influence South-Eastern and Eastern regions of the continent. In Hungary and Poland, for example, local hashtags were confined to liberal groups and quickly lost relevance in public discourse, as stories of victims did not receive substantial media coverage (Srebotnjak, 2019). However, in other Eastern countries such as Croatia, no movement akin to #MeToo emerged at all. Principally, it is not the absence of unwanted sexual advances that marks #MeToo’s scarcity in these countries, but the social stigmas and shame around sexual violence that prevent survivors from safely sharing their stories (Srebotnjak, 2019).

II. Asia

Next, this research paper studies the influence of the #MeToo movement in a selection of Asian countries, including China, Mongolia, Turkey and India.

CHINA

When the #MeToo hashtag was censored on Weibo, the biggest communicative app in China, feminists responded with a creative approach and started using #mi tu #米兔 (“rice bunny”), which is homophonous with “Me Too”; consequently, images and emoji symbols of a rice bowl and bunny became resistance symbols for Chinese women (Andersen, 2018). Finally, the state also approved a law forward: Article 1010 of the 2020 civil code defines sexual harassment and forces employers to take proper measures to prevent it and properly investigate complaints (Durham, 2021). While there have been cultural shifts, the reach of the legal policies has been limited as seen in Zhou Xiaoxuan (Xianzi) v Zhu Jun. Zhou Xiaoxuan filed a sexual harassment case regarding a TV host Zhu Juan, which influenced public discussions, however ended with her claims dismissed for “insufficient evidence” (Tsui, 2022). More recently the five-year sentence handed to Huang Xueqin, a leading #MeToo journalist, shows how the government criminalises activism. Yet, because the case was so widely covered, it unintentionally kept the debate about gender violence alive (Moritsugu, 2024). All in all, China shows how activists have had to battle censorship for the voices of women to be heard.

MONGOLIA

Mongolia is slowly breaking the cultural silence that surrounds sexual harassment and violence (Kuo, 2018). In 2016 the government, for the first time, explicitly recognised domestic violence as a crime, even if its enforcement took place later (Kuo, 2018). NGOs then pushed for sexual harassment in the workplace to be a part of the new labour law. A year later after the #MeToo movement was published, Bolor Zaankhuu published her own #MeToo story of getting groped. After she filed her case to the police, she was immediately blamed (Kuo, 2018). After she experienced another case of sexual harassment, the police actively encouraged her to drop the case, which she eventually did, tired of fighting a long battle. While many women contacted her with their stories of sexual assault, no one joined Bolor Zaankhuu’s campaign (Kuo, 2018). Significant strides were made in 2022, when a new labour law was introduced, which included measures to address and prevent workplace harassment, thus, aligning national law more clearly with international law (Press and information team of the Delegation to Mongolia, 2023). Legal implementation and enforcement, however, remains a work in progress. 

TURKEY

Turkey’s discourse on sexual harassment began in 2015, two years before the US #Metoo movement. The murder of university student Özgecan Aslan in 2015 sparked public outrage and protests. In the aftermath of her murder, women began to share their stories of harassment and assault in the form of #sendeanlat, which translates to “you tell your story too”, creating a new digital movement for survivors to tell their stories (Kesen, 2017). A new surge came in December 2020 when an anonymous Twitter account accused novelist Hasan Ali Toptaş of sexual harassment. Soon after, other women raised allegations against well-known figures in Turkey’s literary, media and entertainment sectors. Feminist journalists and media outlets were the first to tell these stories, shattering the silence and revealing the historical and structural forms of violence and abuse in the cultural industries (Dincer, 2021). Although this coverage was a watershed moment, survivors continued to experience stigma and victim-blaming alongside institutional neglect.

Alongside #MeToo, a key campaign in Turkey was the #BenDeNevin campaign, a feminist initiative, which started in 2018. It highlighted the case of Nevin Yildirim, a woman who went to prison for killing her rapist in self-defence (Abad-Santos, 2012). This campaign advocated for the urgent need to understand Yildirim’s act as an act of self-defence (Basch-Harod, 2019). These feminist movements show how powerful self-advocacy and grassroots movements are for women who seek justice and structural transformation.

In 2021, however, the Turkish government withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, a human rights treaty of the Council of Europe opposing violence against women and domestic violence. This sparked a public uproar considering 41 women out of 100 in Turkey undergo sexual violence and 93 out of 100 get harassed in public (Yaman, 2018). Scholars argue that the withdrawal signalled a political retreat from gender equality. It also showed how patriarchal norms continue to dominate the Turkish law and society.

INDIA

The #MeToo movement in India started in October 2017 after Raya Sarkar, an academic, published a crowdsourced “List of Sexual Harassers in Academia”, which shed light on decades-long silence of harassment in universities (Kannabiran, 2020). This list divided feminists – on the one hand, it led to a lot of other women and girls talking about their experiences with male academic, but on the other hand, several influential feminist lawyers, activists and public figures condemned the list for not following due process (Misra, 2020). While the start of the movement itself might have divided feminists, what is crucial to remember is that “drawing up arbitrary borders for aptness of the anger would be slamming the door closed on these women” (Misra, 2020). There were other key movements in India’s #MeToo movement. For example, the movement also received a lot of notice in 2018 when actress Tanushree Dutta claimed fellow actor Nana Patekar had harassed her, leading to a flood of accusations throughout the media, Bollywood, academia and even the political arena. Another key movement was when more than a dozen women accused the influential journalist and politician M.J. Akbar of sexual harassment. Akbar, then, filed a defamation case against the journalist Priya Ramani, who had accused him of sexual harassment. Akbar lost the defamation case (see Mobashar Jawed Akbar v Priya Ramani, decided on 17 February 2021). This was a defining movement for the #MeToo movement in India as the judge held that “a woman cannot be punished for raising her voice against sexual abuse”. The judge further emphasised that the right of reputation cannot be protected at the cost of the right of life and dignity of a woman. Digital narratives have additionally revealed influential people in education and journalism, resulting in resignations and igniting conversations about social justice, institutional responsibility and the obstacles survivors encounter when trying to report harassment (Dey & Mendez, 2021). 

However, a lot of work remains. India’s #MeToo movement came in the wake of past anti-sexual violence campaigns which had also brought in tighter rape laws, special fast track courts, broadened definitions of sexual violence and greater focus on gender justice (Baxi, 2014). The main legal protection against sexual harassment continues to come from The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act (2013) but enforcement is weak. This is particularly true in the informal sector, where majority of the women work (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Many companies improved their internal committees and training in response to the #MeToo movement. While the movement empowered many women and some men to speak out, its effects have not been uniform. It has primarily benefitted urban, middle-class professionals. Marginalised groups, such as Dalits, Adivasis, queer women and those in precarious jobs, have frequently been overlooked, even as they face greater risks of violence (Roy, 2018; Bansode, 2022; Atrey, 2020). Survivors still deal with stigma, tight legal timeframes and resistance from institutions. In India, #MeToo has shifted public discussions and led to some legal and institutional reforms. However, for lasting change, we need inclusivity, stronger enforcement and a cultural shift in how we view gender and power.

Combined, these above-mentioned Asian countries depict how culture drags law forward and how once law is changed, it feeds culture in return. One can see how media, civil society activists and feminists fuel change. However, only time will tell whether these changes are long-lasting or if they are rapid temporary fixes.

III. Africa

Due to time constraints, it is not possible for the authors to evaluate the influence of the #MeToo movement in multiple African countries. This section exclusively focuses on South Africa. 

South Africa’s history is deeply rooted in colonialism. While precolonial tribal systems were not beacons of gender equality, African women as the agricultural producers still enjoyed better social status and privilege than under the colonial rule (Mitchell, 2023). By the seventeenth century, the colonial authorities, through churches and schools, started indoctrinating African girls with Western norms and gender roles – “women were to be domesticated and were no longer perceived as productive, economic members of society” (Walker, 1990; Jansen, 2019; Mitchell, 2023). This continued into the Apartheid, exemplified in the Bantu Education Act 44 (1953), which discriminated against Black children, ensuring they were trained solely for low-skilled work. This steered Black girls towards marriage rather than careers of their own, further stigmatising the Black woman’s societal worth (Lues, 2005). These regressive policies introduced and enforced during the Apartheid continue to have a ripple effect on women in South Africa even now (Mitchell, 2023). The rates of female homicide, gender-based violence and intimate partner violence is quite high and freedom of movement and access to public space is a luxury that most women cannot afford (Mitchell, 2023). 

For a country that suffered under the brutal, institutionalised system of racial segregation and discrimination, it is no surprise that the #MeToo movement, which gathered global attention when white, privileged actresses tweeted, did not have much appeal (Gouws, 2019). However, it did bring back into focus local South African specific campaigns like #EndRapeCulture. 

In 2015, #EndRapeCulture started in South Africa on university campuses in tandem with the #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall campaigns to “decolonise” South African universities (Gouws, 2019). This shows that mobilisation through media hashtags was not a new phenomenon for South African women. Although, unlike the later #MeToo movement, it fell short of a nation-wide, mass-scale mobilisation as the #EndRapeCulture primarily mobilised young female university students. Mitchell (2023) argues that “it was only after #MeToo that a campaign uniting various women would be seen in South Africa”. This is seen in the example of #AmINext, a social movement that started after #MeToo and mobilised women on a much larger scale (Mitchell, 2023).

On August 24, 2019, a nineteen-year-old university student, Uyienenew (Nene) Mrtwetyana, was raped and bludgeoned to death by a worker at a post office she visited in the broad light of day. Regardless of the high levels of femicide and gender-based violence in the country, Uyinene’s death ignited nationwide protest, with many tweeting #AmINext and #IamNene. Mitchell (2023) strongly argues that “#MeToo paved the way for a large- scale social media campaign and protests against sexual violence, which would not have been possible if women had not witnessed the power of a joined, strong movement in #MeToo”. What the #AmINext movement did far better than #MeToo was to recognise and address the intersectional nature of gender-based violence. Mitchell highlights the many intersectional issues that the movement focused upon such as, “the exploitation and mistreatment of women in the criminal justice system, the bias of the courts in bail hearings, the danger women face in social spaces and the extreme poverty many women have to live in”.

A key outcome of #AmINext was the legislative and policy reform that it brought about: gender-based violence became the focal point of the nation’s agenda (Hasan, 2020); special funds to combat femicide and five-point emergency plans to address gender-based violence were announced (Kiewit, 2019; Mitchell 2023); the minister of Justice and Constitutional Development approved the reestablishment of Sexual Offences Courts (Elliott, 2019; Mitchell, 2023); and the government introduced three crucial amendment bills targeting GBV: (1) The Domestic Violence Amendment Bill, further expanding its definition while also enforcing stricter regulation, (2) The Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill, which ensured stricter bail and sentencing rules regarding GBV and improved victim support during court proceeding, and (3) The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill, which broadened the reach of the National Register for Sex Offenders. While the #MeToo campaign in its “original syntax” failed to mobilise South African women, it inspired and influenced them to start a more inclusive campaign “that speaks to the larger South African project of gender and social justice and that recognises that women’s intersectional identities are central to the complexity of the violence and oppression they face” (Mitchell, 2023).

Conclusion

When faced with the question “to what extent has the #MeToo movement influenced not only societal discourse on sexual harassment and assault but also tangible legal reforms?”, we conclude, considering the evidence gathered through the extensive research carried out, that the #MeToo movement has, to a significant extent, influenced not only societal attitudes but also legal reforms. From the origins of the movement to over 12 million retweets and interactions with the world, #MeToo shed light on how sexual harrassment and assault should not be considered as isolated, but rather systemic. 

The #MeToo movement in the US transformed legal approaches to sexual misconduct. Reforms limiting NDAs, expanding reporting windows, lowering thresholds for harassment and reinforcing due process strengthened victim protection, increased accountability and signalled a lasting cultural and procedural shift in justice. This shows how the movement’s impact answers our research question by demonstrating its tangible legal and societal effects.

All over the world, each country had a different path. In Europe, countries translated the hashtag, making it their own: #Balancetonporc in France, #SistaBriefen in Sweden and #Quellavoltache in Italy. Women finally found spaces where they could safely share their stories. Based on the major social impact, lawmakers, especially in Nordic countries, implemented new reforms to protect employees. Southeastern and eastern Europe witnessed little to no activism towards sexual harassment, showing the urgency for this discourse to be ignited within these countries. In China, censorship of the #MeToo movement forced activists to use creative symbols like the “rice bunny”, and in Mongolia, progress came through workplace laws, though enforcement is still uneven. In Turkey, the 2015 murder of Özgecan Aslan sparked the #SendeAnlat movement, while the government’s 2021 withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention drew widespread backlash. In India, the Raya Sarkar list and the Tanushree Dutta case fuelled a nationwide #MeToo wave, and the Priya Ramani verdict later affirmed survivors’ right of speech. In South Africa, we note how the #MeToo movement inspired the South African women to create a more inclusive and intersectional campaign, #AmINext. 

Even though other regions have notable examples, we focused on these cases to highlight the most significant developments. Overall, the #MeToo movement demonstrates its global significance by creating spaces for survivors, influencing legal reforms and shaping cultural and societal attitudes, showing how widespread social activism can drive both social and legal change, directly addressing our question about the movement’s impact. The #MeToo movement’s work is far from completion. Further legal reforms, including better enforcement of already existing laws, should be enacted to achieve success. Therefore, we have come a long way, but we still have far to go to reach gender equality and create a safe world for all.

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