KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In 2006, Tarana Burke began using "#MeToo" to share experiences of sexual assault and harassment. Since then, the phrase has become an international movement to support people who had similar experiences and to help them heal.
Students at the University of Tennessee had the chance to ask her about the movement and her experiences on Wednesday. The university hosted a virtual Q&A event with Burke when participants could ask questions and learn about the movement and her experiences with it.
She emphasized that if someone says an experience they had was traumatizing, it is not up to another person to say it wasn't. Just because one person thinks a situation wasn't traumatizing doesn't mean another person wasn't traumatized.
She also talked about addressing sexual assault and harassment of men during the event and discussed Title IX regulations.
"I think we have to create safe spaces for men too, to engage them not just as people who cause harm," she said during the event. "And if we're going to talk about the harm they cause, we have to be honest about sexism and misogyny and that we all participate in it and contribute to it."