ON Sunday, American actress Alyssa Milano tweeted the call to arms.
The former child star, who is now 44, posted: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted, write ‘Me too’.”
And suddenly, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram filled with the devastating phrase.
By yesterday the hashtag had been used more than 12million times, including by singers Lady Gaga, Bjork and Sheryl Crow, actresses Gillian Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Patricia Arquette, Selma Blair and Anna Paquin and Labour MP Stella Creasy.
It is a grim but unsurprising insight into just how much crassness, cruelty and humiliation still goes on — and how much it haunts and disgusts those who experience it.
And it was not just women — men have also spoken up about their experiences, including former Dawson’s Creek teen idol James Van Der Beek, now 40.
He tweeted: “I’ve had my a** grabbed by older, powerful men, I’ve had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations.
“I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness and inability to blow the whistle. There’s a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome.”
Sarah Cheadle, communications officer at the Survivors Trust, said: “That so many people have come forward shows that this is not an isolated problem.
“There is strength and comfort in numbers and it’s time to put that guilt and shame back on to the perpetrators.
Along with some of the celebrity tweets, here are just a few of other victims’ stories shared online. Their names have been changed to protect their privacy.
Karen:“As a teenager, I worked in a shop where my boss would constantly position himself in doorways and behind the counter so I would have to squeeze past him.
“He would push his crotch out a bit more as I did and I feel sick thinking about it now.”
Helen:“During my first week of university I was at a bus stop when a man started masturbating right next to me.”
Frances:“About four years ago, about 8pm, I was on the London Tube. Two guys opposite me kept staring at me, winking and licking their lips.
“When I got off, one of the men sat next to me, held my wrist down and put his hand high on my thigh then tried to reach inside my pants.
“When I shouted, ‘Get away from me’, he backed off but I was in such shock. No one offered to help me.”
Emma:“Told if I want men to respect me in meetings I can’t smile or laugh.”
Claire:“At 16, a boy grabbed my breast from behind with the shout of, ‘A standard handful!’.”
Lauren:“I was about 20 when a man in a bookshop literally shoved his hand between my legs and squeezed. I told a female member of staff, who brushed me off saying: ‘Actually, we’re kind of busy’.”
Danielle:“Having to say ‘I have a boyfriend’ instead of ‘No’ or ‘Please stop’ because men respect other men more than they respect me.”
Rachel:“I was staying at a fancy resort with my boyfriend, on a work weekend away.
“I got hideously drunk, went to bed, and shortly afterwards, one of my boyfriend’s colleagues came in with a girl and kissed me while I was lying on the bed.
“I screamed and he left but I was really shaken up. My boyfriend told his boss and I was assured the man would be sacked. He wasn’t.”
Jennifer:“I was assaulted by someone in the same industry.
“I said I didn’t want to have sex without a condom but then he raped me in my sleep without a condom. I didn’t report it because I didn’t think I would be believed and I worried about the impact on my career.”
Heather:“I was out clubbing with my girlie friends in Hull one night. We were wearing short skirts and at one point a man walked behind us and skimmed each of our bums in turn.”
Fiona:“A homeless man tricked me into an empty alleyway when I was 23, demanded a hug, then asked me, ‘What would you say if I told you I have a massive c**k?’.”
Hannah:“When I was a helpline volunteer, I took a call from a man wanting to end his life.
“He described his suicide plan and said he wanted to read me his suicide note.
“‘I have a huge c**k,’ he said, then hung up. He had been masturbating the whole time and used the story to keep me on the phone.”
Sally:“I was 18 when I met my first proper boyfriend’s dad, at my boyfriend’s 21st party.
“We were on the dance floor when he leaned in close, put his hand on my bum, gave it a squeeze and asked if I’d like to have sex on a hammock.”
Nicola:“When I was 15, I was walking home from school when two boys attacked me.
“They put their hands up my skirt and groped me, in broad daylight, on a main road.”
Tessa:“At a university house-warming party, I got drunk and passed out in my bed.
“I came round to find one of my friends having sex with me.
“I wanted it to end but I had no control of my heavy, booze-soaked limbs and must have passed out again. I woke up in a pool of my own vomit with bruises all over my hips and an ache in between my legs.
He had already gone. I told my friends and no one believed me.
“I saw him every single day for three years.”
Alice:“I was groped and asked to take my shirt off by a school teacher. I was ‘tickled’ constantly by a male boss when I was 19.
“Many times, men have pleasured themselves on public transport in front of me.
“And I had a man in his sixties try to push his penis up the back of my shorts at a concert when I was 15.”
Kate:“I was at a girlfriend’s hen party at an Irish pub. A guy reached under my skirt and grabbed my bum. My response? I turned around and slapped him in the face. Hard. And yelled, “What the hell is wrong with you?”.
Jasmin:“I’ve been a victim of domestic violence for 21 years.
“Tied in because I have kids and I don’t know how to break free.”
Gabz:“Because I didn’t choose to lose my virginity, it was taken from me and if you feel uncomfortable reading that . . . good, you should.”
Andrea:“Prospective boss said he’d hire me if I let him get to know me more intimately.”
Ellie:“I was once attacked by a very drunk man in a subway in Birmingham while with my two-year-old daughter.
“He pinned me to the wall, pushed up my skirt and inserted his fingers inside me.
“I was so stunned I couldn’t move, then I shoved him as hard as I could and he went sprawling. I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry in my life. It felt like the worst kind of violation.”
Kayleigh:“When I was 15 I was walking in a park with two friends during lunch break from school.
“A dirty-looking boy in a filthy old coat walked towards us and flashed at us.
“My first instinct was to laugh, it was so pathetic, but then he started running towards us.
“He grabbed my arm, then me to the ground and tried to rape me.
“I kicked him as hard as I could between the legs and managed to run away. The police never caught him.”
Kaz:“I had a fantastic job in broadcast journalism and was newly married.
“My boss was a good looking guy in his mid twenties, also married, with two young children.
“About a month after I started, he took the whole department out for a meal, and during it, he pushed his chair uncomfortably close to mine and put his head on my leg.
“When I removed it, he winked, ‘Later’. I said no and made an excuse to get away early, but from then on, he blanked me and put me down in front of my colleagues.
“In the end, I left because I knew he would never forgive me for turning him down.”
Daisy: “After a night out, me, my best friend and male friend dossed down on another friend’s spare bed. “A few hours later, I came round from my drunken sleep to find myself naked from the waist down with him humping on top of me.
“A wrestle ensued and he only gave up when my friend woke up wanting to know what was going on.”
Sophie:“I was in the front seat of a taxi in Birmingham.
“When I arrived home, I paid and he asked for my phone number. When I said no and tried to open the door, he leant over me and tried to close it.
“He tried to kiss me so I pushed him away, flung open the door and ran to my flat. I never sat in the front seat of a taxi again.”
Josie:“I was a teenager staying with family friends in a foreign country without my parents.
“One day, when we were all sat at the table eating, the father of the family took off his shoe and began rubbing his foot up the inside of my leg.
“Afterwards he kept inviting me out for ‘a drive’ in his car.
“I always refused and asked his kids to camp out in the living room with me every night, as I didn’t feel safe. I didn’t tell them why.”
Gemma:“In a crowded bar in Manchester a man in his twenties grabbed aggressively between my legs.
“I quickly hit his hand away but I’ll never forget the way he looked at me.
“He had this nasty expression of satisfaction on his face, like he was getting off on the power of the situation. It left me shaking.”
MOST READ IN FABULOUS