FARRAH: And feminist organizing.

ROBYN: Totally. I mean, my work is built off of the work that these organizations and advocates have been pushing for, forever. It’s not like any of these ideas are new. They’ve been around for decades. And, then, this political/media push suddenly says, ‘Okay. We better do this now.’

RU MAGAZINE: The investigative series came out around the time that #MeToo started. What did you think, Farrah, when those tweets started?

FARRAH: #MeToo was a hashtag that was created by Tarana Burke, over a decade ago, to talk specifically about the impact of sexual violence on Black women and to give voice to survivors. But, then, when Alyssa Milano tweeted, I remember seeing people starting to post and I was like, hmm, I don’t want to see that right now. And, it took till the next day to really see that this was popping up.

I think social media can be fantastic as a place for folks that have been affected by sexual violence, to have an opportunity to connect with their peers. Or, to say to someone, ‘Yes. I’m not alone. There’s other people.’

I think, it was really fantastic in the conversations around #MeToo, we saw men take up that conversation. I can talk to a group of young men now about sexual violence, in a very different way because of Terry Crews.

So, it’s been really powerful in that way. I think, also, it’s been used to manipulate, harm and shame survivors.

And, I don’t think we were meant to be so immersed all the time in this because the exposure to trauma that people have on social media on a consistent basis is a lot for people.

ROBYN: There’s this evolution that’s happening right now, in terms of the range of sexual misconduct. I recently interviewed Susan Brown Miller, who wrote Against Our Will, which is the first big book on rape, published in 1975.

It was so interesting because before Against Our Will, rape was not viewed as a political social issue. It was a deviant, rare crime that no one really talked about or thought about. I was struggling sometimes in the interview to think of a world when sexual violence was not top of mind. Miller said, “we just didn’t talk about it. It just wasn’t a thing we thought about. It was this rare thing. We didn’t realize it was ubiquitous in the culture.”

I’m bringing this up as this is evidence of us moving along. #MeToo has moved the bar from violent rape to other ranges of sexual misconduct.

RU MAGAZINE: What’s ahead in the wake of the #MeToo movement?

ROBYN: I am writing a book that is exploring this reckoning that’s happening. What I’m really interested in is how the #MeToo movement and these demands to reform our criminal justice system are working together and clashing.

So, it’s really complicated and murky. I think people are kind of nervous about having these conversations, because you don’t want to be branded as a victim blamer, or not with it, or a right-wing crazy conservative, misogynist. We’re just trying to navigate all of these things.

FARRAH: There are a couple of things that I’d like to see. I worry sometimes that we pour money into an issue and then, when it’s not seen as relevant or important anymore, that money dries up.

And so, I worry about the sustainable funding of rape crisis centres and sexual assault centres across Canada, including campus services.

In terms of a #MeToo movement, I think there are multiple movements on sexual violence. I don’t think all of them have to do with the police services because the majority of people don’t go to the police.

I’m interested in talking about the fact that if we’re not going to the police, how do we invest our time and resources in other ways to address this?’ Not just healing individually, but healing collectively. How do we, when we know somebody who’s done something really crappy and we’re not down with their behaviour, how do we call them in?

And, the last thing that kind of excites me about this is that we’re having conversations for the first time, I think, in a long time about the impact of this. The impact is not just a one-time thing. It’s not episodic, in that you’re sexually assaulted and it’s done. No, it’s a long-term piece.

So, how are we going to build a world that recognizes that so many of us have been harmed? And a trauma-informed world? Instead of saying, ‘It’s just a special interest group,’ it’s actually not. It’s so many of us. It’s one in three women and one in six men. Because, it’s not a quick fix. It’s a conversation that is ongoing.

SUPPORTING AND EDUCATING

Ryerson’s Consent Comes First Office offers support for survivors and programs for education about sexual violence. One initiative is an e-learning module for first-year students called This is How We Take Care of Each Other: Addressing Sexual Violence on Campus. Created in consultation with students, faculty and staff, the module provides important information on relationships, consent, intervening to prevent harm and support services for people affected by sexual violence. Find out more at ryerson.ca/consentcomesfirst.

Winter 2019 / Ryerson University Magazine 23