“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open,” wrote American poet and activist Muriel Rukeyser, known for her poems on feminism and equality. Penned in 1968, these lines continued to be used, even to this day, as a rallying cry for women and feminists who speak up against abuse. Rukeyser's quote is rightfully the introductory slogan of Me Too Rising—Google's new interactive visualisation of the #MeToo movement. Piggybacking on information gathered from Google Maps and Google Trends, the interactive attempts to visualise the spread of the powerful movement across the globe.
A watershed moment in history of women's rights, the hashtag and the movement gathered steam in October last year with sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. What followed was an avalanche of stories of abuse and exploitation in Hollywood over the years that pulled off many other big names from their pedestal. Since then, what began as a hashtag on twitter became a global crusade that united women to share stories of abuse—at work and home.
Allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey; Hollywood's 'black on the red carpet' protest at the Golden Globes; TIME choosing the silence breakers as person of the year; the #aintnocinderealla campaign in India—these are some of the events that caught widespread attention through news and social media. 'Me Too Rising' attempts to bring other stories, too, that define women's movements since #MeToo. For instance, a scroll over Bengaluru in India will lead the user to an article about women-centric literature and theatre festivals.
Launching 'Me Too Rising' as part of the Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Google's senior counsel on civil and human rights Malika Saada Saar wrote in the blog post: “#MeToo marks a time when sexual assault survivors everywhere turned the internet into a platform for their voices and perspectives to be heard and respected. In the past year, #MeToo has been searched in 195 countries—that's every country on earth.”
Google allows users to see the cities where the hashtag was trending on different dates and also what is happening now at local levels with city-specific searches. The site also has a link to sexual assault resources to improve awareness, which include ways to get in touch with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) and the Trevor Project. Google has announced that it will give $500,000 in grants to RAINN and Girls for Gender Equity.
As one scrolls through the globe, it is empowering to see clusters of bright spots—each of these representing a city that has been talking about #MeToo since last year. Let the clusters increase, let the consciousness grow.
As Saar puts it: “Me Too Rising shows what it looks like when we all become a little more aware of sexual assault and violence. When enough survivors speak up, the world not only listens, it searches for answers. to do beyond just spreading awareness about sexual assault and harassment.”
WOMEN
Google Trends launches 'Me Too Rising' to visualise spread of movement across the globe
