Some interesting facts you need to know about #MeToo movement

New Delhi, Oct 16: Today, we live in a world that claims to give men and women equal rights and where several laws have been made to protect women, their rights and dignity. However, there were times when Man, in his arrogance and self-pride, had kept women deprived of their basic human rights and even the right to live. Man had always considered woman as a commodity, that he could own and use for pleasure. However, with the passage of time and with the spread of awareness, women did realize that they would have to stand up to men and deal with them on equal terms.

Here are some interesting facts about the #MeToo campaign that has spread worldwide:

• Originally sparked off in the US on October of 2017 the #MeToo movement unmasked this very demonic nature of men. Starting with Harvey Weinstein this movement exposed sexual misconducts of numerous high profile individuals.
• The #MeToo movement has now gripped India taking social media by storm with lots of complaints of sexual harassment and misconduct against prominent actors, journalists, movie directors, and other public figures. Women across the board feel the justice system and all other relevant committees have failed them.
• The #MeToo movement started trending in India after Bollywood actor Tanushree Dutta, who in an interview, alleged that her co-actor Nana Patekar - another Bollywood bigwig - misbehaved with her on set while shooting for a film in 2008. Thereon, with each passing day new names with allegations of sexual harassment have surfaced including a junior minister of the India government.

• The #MeToo movement has given women the world over a platform to share their experiences with sexual harassment and come out in solidarity with survivors. Google has traced this campaign and the online trend around it in the form of an interactive timeline represented by a globe. In light of #MeTooIndia gaining ground, India can be seen lit up on the map, brighter than any other country on the globe. The Google trend shows that small towns in India are very much interested in the issue.
• MeToo is still among the most searched terms on Google in India. On Sunday (October 14), of the top 10 search in India, four were related to allegations of sexual misconduct and MeToo. Searches included Vinod Dua, Kate Sharma, MJ Akbar and Ira Trivedi. On Monday too, writer Chetan Bhagat and yoga expert Ira Trivedi was among top trending.
• #MeToo was first coined by activist Tarana Burke way back in 2006, the term only really gained traction following the Harvey Weinstein revelations of 2017, after The New York Times and The New Yorker published their investigation into the predatory behaviour of the now disgraced Hollywood mogul which stretched back decades and saw Weinstein sexually harass and assault dozens of women, no questions asked. Meanwhile, the #MeToo movement picked up in India following actor Tanushree Dutta's allegations against co-star Nana Patekar.
• According to Pew Research, until September 30 this year, the #MeToo hashtag was already used more than 19 million times on Twitter in just English language, which comes to an average of 55,319 per day. The single-largest number of mention was on September 9, when Leslie Moonves, chairman and chief executive of CBS, resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct.