Five years ago, millions of people spoke out on social media against sexual abuse and misconduct, rising in solidarity with fellow survivors.
In the years that followed, the movement took down hundreds of powerful figures who abused their authority to take advantage of those who they worked with or who worked for them. Four disgraced Hollywood men — director Paul Haggis, actors Kevin Spacey and Danny Masterson, and former media mogul Harvey Weinstein — are on trial this month over sexual misconduct allegations that arose in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
However, the movement has had its setbacks in delivering justice to the men and women who waged accusations against powerful figures. Some reputations — like that of comedian Louis C.K. and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh — have in part come back from allegations, with C.K. winning a Grammy for best comedy album at the Grammys earlier this year and Kavanaugh being sworn in to the nation's highest court.
Activist Tarana Burke, who is also a sexual assault survivor, coined the phrase to allow victims to reclaim their narratives, rather than just "naming and shaming."
"We're still talking about individuals that had acted, and we're still talking about who can come back to work or not and that kind of stuff, as opposed to talking about all the people who said, 'Me too,'" Burke said in a 2018 interview with Insider. "What do they need? What are they doing right now? How is their life being affected?"
Some prominent accusers found justice after their allegations came into the public eye, while others are still wading in the blowback of the revelations.