Time Magazine has named the anti-harassment movement, the women they call “The Silence Breakers” who triggered a #MeToo national outcry over sexual harassment, as its Person of the Year for 2017.
The movement, launched in the wake of sexual harassment and assault charges against producer Harvey Weinstein and other prominent men in Hollywood, is credited with fueling a moment of reckoning about the treatment of women in the workplace. After actress Alyssa Milano popularized the hashtag, thousands of women began sharing their stories about the damage brought on by sexual harassment and abuse.
“The galvanizing actions of the women on our cover…along with those of hundreds of others, and of many men as well, have unleashed one of the highest-velocity shifts in our culture since the 1960s,” said Time Magazine Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal in a statement. “The idea that influential, inspirational individuals shape the world could not be more apt this year. For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing us all to stop accepting the unacceptable, The Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year.”
