The Me Too Movement is the movement that is against sexual violence and has taken the world and college campuses by storm. We are starting to address this very serious issue that affects more and more people every single day. While sexual violence is apparent everywhere, it is something that is very much present on college campuses and we must start talking about it. This issue is something that some of us have addressed in our own personal lives and have fought against preventing it, but we need to address as a university as a whole.
Related: Anonymous Stories Behind “Me Too” Posts
Sarah Kurian, a sophomore at George Mason University, started the hashtag #MeTooGMU on March 7th, 2019. This hashtag was accompanied with an Instagram post on @metoo_gmu about her story and a plan to create a safe space at George Mason for all sexual violence survivors. When asked about what convinced her to start this movement, she discussed her own personal experience of sexual assault one year ago last spring. She said, “There hasn’t been a day where I didn’t think about what happened. I began thinking that maybe I should post about it, but I didn’t know what I wanted to achieve with that post.” She had discussed her Title IX case that went wrong with a close friend who had the same experience. For both of them, this was a very invalidating experience because they came forward with their own sexual assault stories only to go through a lengthy process that ended in nothing. Sarah said she never wanted anyone to feel this invalidation again, so she started #MeTooGMU.
Within Sarah’s case, she was told that there is a clause that says statements like her’s wouldn’t have presented enough evidence for any conclusions to be drawn. “Most of the time in sexual assault cases, these people only have their statements and memories as evidence for what happened,” Kurian stated.
From this movement, Sarah hopes to fix the clause that led to her case being brushed under the rug and to create a safe space where survivors can come forward with their cases and feel validated. She wants survivors to know that no matter what institution makes you and your story feel lesser, that there is a safe place in MeToo GMU to come forward. Sarah goes on to say, “Even if the clause gets changed, it doesn’t mean sexual violence, or any violence for that matter, will end. But now the university will back you up and MeToo GMU will always be there.” The process of creating this organization is a slow and steady race, but Sarah believes that creating this space is 100% worth it and we will never stop fighting for what we believe is right.