"It had huge impacts on us, and we're seeing those impacts to this day," said Farrah Khan, manager of Consent Comes First, in the Office of Sexual Violence Support and Education at Toronto Metropolitan University.
"There are dozens of other high-profile men, including R. Kelly, Kevin Spacey, Danny Masterson and Canadian filmmaker Paul Haggis who have been taken to court since then."
"When the #MeToo movement took off on social media, it sparked further conversations in Canada that sexual violence is a systemic problem."
The RCMP has settled multi-million dollar lawsuits.
"GRABBING A WOMAN'S BREASTS NONCONSENTUALLY IS NOT SEXUAL ASSAULT!"
Small victories=progress and change?
"Statistics Canada reported a 25 per cent increase in reports of sexual assaults in the three months after the hashtag #MeToo first went viral, from October to December 2017.
Between 2020 and 2021, the agency said there was an 18 per cent increase in reports of sexual assaults across Canada. Khan attributes this to more people feeling comfortable coming forward.
Victories have also been recorded in the justice system, like in Prince Edward Island, which earlier this year became the first province to pass a bill stipulating that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) can only be part of a settlement in a discrimination or harassment case, including sexual misconduct, if the person bringing forward the allegation wants it there."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/me-too-sexual-assault-harvey-weinstein-1.6633811
Ellie Ade Kur, a board member of sex worker support organization Maggie's Toronto, says the experiences of marginalized people are often swept under the rug. (Grant Linton/CBC)
I believe we may be making progress given the number of prosecutions and successful lawsuits against offenders. I think the female RCMP officers are a great example of perseverance. The only problem is the offenders remain on the job.