In the shift from #MeToo to Time’s Up, movement leaders are strategically framing sexual violence as a social and cultural problem, rather than an individual problem. Doing so helps people think about the broad range of actions we can take to systemically prevent sexual violence.
When researchers asked people to explain why sexual violence occurs, they talked about individuals’ internal motivations. They described sexual violence as the result of a perpetrator’s moral or psychological failing, and a “victim’s” inability to ensure her or his safety. Social context—and critically, inequity—didn’t enter the discussion.
The systems-oriented frame offers space to advocate for policies that increase women’s autonomy and decision-making in the workplace, such as equal pay initiatives, increased leave policies, flexible working conditions, and gender quotas for boards of directors, for example. By addressing systemic inequality in the workplace, these kinds of policy solutions will help create environments where sexual violence is less likely to occur.
To get to the root of the subject, now through Time’s Up everyone is focusing on sexual violence in the workplace. This gives advocates space to widen the national conversation beyond individuals and explain how systems shape violence.
Time’s Up challenges harmful individual frames, because it explains how gender inequity shapes workplace cultures and reminds people that for women, “leaning in” at work can be—and has been—dangerous.
Women tell stories of abuse and harassment to each other. For many of us, hearing these stories in public venues has been both painful and therapeutic. From a communications lens, this most recent, popular focus on the issue of sexual violence is different. We’re having regular public conversations about sexual violence in which systems of inequality are central. And we are putting forth strategies to fix these systems.
With deeper public understanding of how institutions shape sexual violence, the movement can begin to address and restructure other unjust institutions—the family, our schools, our places of worship—that create conditions for sexual violence to occur. Everyone has a role to play in creating a culture free of sexual violence. Prevention is possible, but there is no “one size fits all” solution. All institutions have a role, one that encourages disclosures, supports survivors, and creates a climate of accountability