Women in Hollywood Front Initiative to Fight Sexual Harassment

Women in Hollywood Front Initiative to Fight Sexual Harassment

Women in Hollywood Front Initiative to Fight Sexual Harassment

Time's Up has the support of over 300 actors, producers, directors, and more.

Time's Up has the support of over 300 actors, producers, directors, and more.

Text: Jake Viswanath

If 2017 was the year that society realized the high level of sexual harassment that occurs on a global scale, then 2018 is the year that we do more to fight it—starting from the first day of the year. Over 300 women in the entertainment realm have joined together for Time's Up Now, an initiative and legal defense fund that aims to raise further awareness about sexual harassment in the workplace and support women across all fields that are dealing with their own incidents, described on its website as a "unified call for change from women in entertainment for women everywhere."

The campaign was announced with a full-age ad in the New York Times and an open letter co-signed by the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria, Emma Stone, Ashley Judd, and much more. “The struggle for women to break in, to rise up the ranks and to simply be heard and acknowledged in male-dominated workplaces must end; time’s up on this impenetrable monopoly,” the letter states. The campaign places a heavy emphasis on helping women in all workplaces beyond the entertainment world who may not have easy access to resources that will help them fight sexual misconduct, even acknowledging a letter from the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas (National Farmworker Women’s Alliance) that was addressed to these actresses.

And while a cohort of famous and powerful figures are helping to spearhead the movement, there is no official leader. The initiative will be run by volunteers and working groups that are already put some motions into actions, including a commission led by Anita Hill that will put together a blueprint to end sexual misconduct in the entertainment world specifically.

The legal defense fund has already raised most of its initial $15 million goal, currently standing at $13.7 million, with huge donations coming from the likes of Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Taylor Swift, Stephen Spielberg, and J.J. Abrams. And as with the #MeToo movement, the new initiative has taken off online, with every figure from Kendall Jenner to America Ferrera sharing the cause on social media. Learn more and see the support below.

Credits: Photos via MediaPunch

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