International response to the MeToo movement

The MeToo movement, an effort to publicize and criticize sexual abuse and harassment, was founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke, and spread virally on social media following the exposure of numerous sexual-abuse allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017.

[1][2] The #MeToo hashtag initially spread in Afghanistan where it is estimated about 90% of women experience sexual harassment in public, at school, or at work, but was quickly silenced when those who shared their stories started fearing for their life.

[34] On September 2, 2022, German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl has been accused of child exploitation and that children were exposed to violence and nudity on the set of his 2022 film Sparta.

[39] During a search of Teichtmeister's apartment, police found around 58,000 files with pornographic depictions of minors in a total of 22 data carriers such as laptops, desktops, mobile phones, USB sticks and memory cards collected between February 2008 and August 2021.

[39][43] On January 14, 2023, the Federal Ministry for Art, Culture, Public Service and Sport, Andrea Mayer, announced a detailed examination of the case and commissioned the Bundestheater-Holding to create a comprehensive chronology of the information flows in the group to ensure that all levels were acted correctly and with the necessary care.

[46] Rumors about Teichtmeister have been circulating in the Austrian press since September 2021, when daily newspaper Der Standard published an article reporting that there was talk of a "successful local theater and film actor who is said to be hoarding child pornographic material".

[48] The Burgtheater director Martin Kušej said that Teichtmeister had been identified internally as the person concerned in the rumors in 2021, but he "credibly denied" all of the allegations when he was confronted by the management and described the accusations as an act of revenge by his ex-partner.

[53] On November 9, 2017, The Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie stopped all collaboration with Bart De Pauw, a Belgian TV producer, after several complains and allegations of sexual intimidation were filed against him.

It was unveiled on the show Tout le monde en parle in January 2018, with the stated purpose of determining which attitudes related to society, politics, institutions, and media need to be changed to ensure equity between all people.

[66] As leader of the Liberal party, Trudeau initiated investigations on several members of parliament resulting in the dismissal of cabinet minister Kent Hehr, the resignation of MP Darshan Kang, and the suspension and later expulsion of MPs Scott Andrews and Massimo Pacetti.

[78] A recent study from a pair of professors from City University of Hong Kong indicated that about 80% of working women in China have experienced sexual harassment at some point in their career,[79] and there were strong reactions of anger online following the report.

1 Peng Shuai shared allegations of sexual assault against Zhang Gaoli, former Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China and a high-ranked official of the Chinese Communist Party cadre.

[115] French politician Marlène Schiappa said some aspects of the letter were "profoundly shocking" and "we have immense difficulty convincing young women that when a man rubs his genitals against a woman in the Métro without her consent, it is an act of sexual assault that can lead to three years in prison and a 75,000 euro fine.

[123][124] MeToo was not particularly popular in Germany until January 11, 2018, when it started trending after the Die Zeit weekly newspaper published reports about three German former actresses who alleged that award-winning TV director Dieter Wedel had committed sexual assault.

The case's revelation led to a wave of solidarity among all the segments of the Greek society with the hashtag #MeTinSofia (#IAmWithSofia) becoming a hit and the country's political leadership, including Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, expressing their full support to her.

The wave of #MeToo allegations rocked the country and spread from Sports sector to other segments of the Greek social life, including the Arts and Entertainment industry, and eventually inspired Zeta Douka and a number of other actresses and actors to come forward with their own stories of workplace bullying, sexual harassment and abuse, with reports surfacing about the involvement of high-profile people, such as actors George Kimoulis and Petros Filippidis, as well as the Greek National Theatre director Dimitris Lignadis, in violent incidents, sexual assaults and rapes.

[143] The use of the #MeToo hashtag on social media spread quickly in India,[144][145] where sexual harassment is commonly referred to by the word 'eve-teasing', a term described as misleading, tame, and diluting the seriousness of the crime.

[145][148][149] Others have suggested there was underlying public anger over a Delhi rape conviction that was overturned by Judge Ashutosh Kumar a month before against filmmaker and writer Mahmood Farooqui, ruling that a "feeble" no was not enough to revoke consent because it was typical for one partner to be less willing.

The List of Sexual Harassers in Academia ("LoSHA") was posted on October 24, 2017, by activist Inji Pennu and an Indian student in California named Raya Sarkar, who alleged they personally confirmed every incident[failed verification].

[173] The Non Una di Meno group (Not One Woman Less), which is dedicated to stopping violence against women, wrote a letter to support Argento and organised a protest in November 2017 where tens of thousands of people gathered in Rome.

[174] Blogger Abbatto i muri (I Break Down Walls), journalist Ida Dominijanni, Cagne sciolte (literally, Loose Bitches), and author Michela Marzano also strongly supported Argento publicly.

[173] Maria Elena Boschi, a politician who has created governmental initiatives aimed at teaching women it is okay to say no to sexual advances, has been targeted in the news and on social media for her support of the #QuellaVoltaChe movement.

[173][179] Francesca Puglisi, the chair of the Commission of Inquiry into Femicide in Italy, said that one woman is killed every two days on average by male violence, and the problem is severely under-reported, though she credited the #QuellaVoltaChe hashtag and the work by Boschi with making a positive difference.

[182] Political Scientist Mari Miura argues that a lack of solidarity among women and the complicated, stigmatized and lengthy process of prosecuting rapists deters sexual assault survivors from speaking out.

[185] Multiple other authors and public figures have criticized what they saw as Japan's silence on the topic of sexual assault, such as Kyoko Nakajima, Mayumi Mori,[182] Kirsten King, Akiko Kobayashi,[186][187] Hakuo Au (née Haruka Ito).

[189] As part of the #MeToo movement, Shiori Itō went public alleging that she was raped by Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a prominent TV journalist and acquaintance of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,[190] an admission she says was unthinkable for a woman to do in Japan.

[203] Protests[226] marked the premieres of Teefa in Trouble in Karachi and Lahore by activists who boycotted the film over the sexual harassment allegations leveled against Ali Zafar by Meesha Shafi, as well as at least half a dozen other women, earlier in the year.

[249] Inspired by the women of the global MeToo movement, Marija Lukić has stood up against Milutin Jeličić, her boss and the Mayor of Brus, a small town in central Serbia and taken her accusations to court.

As more public figures are denounced across society, there has been an increased number of celebrities accused of unwanted sexual advances and activities in the Korean television and cinematic industries, including Choi Il-hwa and Kim Heung-gook.

[295][296][297][298] On March 5, 2018, prominent Democratic Party of Korea presidential contender and former Chungcheongnam-do province Governor Ahn Hee-jung resigned from the governorship and announced his retirement from public service, as his former secretary Kim Ji-eun accused him of multiple cases of sexual assault.