Has the #MeToo movement become a witch-hunt to a significant degree?

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I am skeptical of statistics that I know must have a faulty basis. Under reporting of crime is one such statistic, a measurement of something that by definition is not documented. Likewise, since we cannot read minds, false reporting is also rather difficult to nail down. A rather small number are convicted, much less convicted after a trial. Yet the crime itself means most legitimate case will be found not guilty, or even not prosecutable. So while common sense will tell me the number of false accusations are fairly low, it is still a measure of that which cannot be measured.
 
There’s no guarantee anyone, even a murderer, will be convicted. Think of OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony, etc. But if an abusive action is brought to light, at least people will know about it. Other people, and we are all responsible for one another, will know about it.

I don’t think anyone has demanded that anyone “get over” things immediately. However, that doesn’t mean we need to indulge our sensitivities and keep silent. If it’s a child, silence is understandable; if it’s a mentally competent adult, it is not, and it’s inexcusable. I was a witness to two very horrific and bloody murders committed by my own teenage male cousins when I was just a child of six. I immediately told their father, who immediately took action. The boys were locked away till age eighteen. (One eventually committed suicide.) Now, being a witness to two horrific murders of two innocent children really IS traumatic. I have NEVER gotten over that and never will. I have to live with it daily and nightly, and I suffered PTSD for many years. Still do, at times. But the situation demanded action. You don’t have to “get over” something to take action. Harassment does not paralyze you. If it does, you need psychiatric care, and I’m not talking about anyone here, just people in general.

Who REALLY knows if the amount of false accusations is low or high? One false accusation is one too many because it can ruin an innocent person’s life. And not naming the person you are accusing is unforgivable because people can make a false assumption that the person you are speaking of is someone else, a totally innocent person. Then, THAT person’s life can be destroyed.

So, if you are harassed or abused, TELL A PERSON IN CHARGE, whether you are believed or not. It’s the RIGHT THING TO DO. Just tell the truth and don’t embroider. Without action, there can be no strength. And, for goodness sake, STAY OFF TWITTER. It’s a cesspool.
 
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I’m so sorry you had to witness that, truly. I wish I had something to say that wasn’t so trite, but I can’t express it easily over the internet. I think you’re incredibly strong.

I really don’t know about the rest. It’s all so very complicated, I just wish life were a better place. I do hope one of the fallouts from the MeToo campaign is that both men and women will take time to carefully consider their actions towards each other - whether ogling to harassment to worse.
 
qui_est_ce said:
I don’t think it’s about protecting the public, though. It’s about salacious dirt digging.
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I think a lot of this is politically motivated now. I shouldn’t be surprised because whenever the left-wing elite get their grubby hands on a cause, it melts down.

The metoo movement, if you can call it that, is already beclowning itself.
 
I don’t think it’s political at all. Neither Republicans nor Democrats want to see women (or men) abused. Doubtless some of the women are less than truthful, but I think most of them suffered some sort of harassment, though saying “You look nice today” is not harassment if that’s as far as it goes. I have problems with women who wait years to come forward or women who use Twitter to accuse a man, or men who use it to accuse a woman. Hopefully, the environment will change, and people will learn that harassment, in any form, is not acceptable and that “no” means “no,” but even the most radical person I’ve met does not approve of harassment, abuse, or bullying.
 
There’s also a point that there isn’t a general law against sexual harassment. There are laws at work against harassment. But, say, the guy shouting out his car window what he’d like to do with my body - he’s not actually breaking any laws. Or they guy who just kept bothering me for a date at the bus stop, despite my trying my best to ignore him, who’d just get in my way or sit next to me to bother me - again, that’s not actually illegal. Really really annoying, and if that sort of thing keeps happening one rather does feel like public property, but not actually illegal.
 
I was delighted with a segment on NPR today about changes in congress
  • Congress can no longer have ‘relations’ with their staff (guess it was A-OK before).
  • Instead of using the House slush fund for hush money settlements, the congressperson is directly responsible to make restitution out of their salary/benefits/savings.
This is an excellent shift in attitude and behavior, from people in leadership roles.
 
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I got followed once by a man who saw me waiting for a bus and tried making small talk. then got on my bus, sat near me and persisted in making small talk and complements, then got off at my stop, grabbed my arm and would not let go unless I agreed to meet him the following day for a date.

It was nerve wracking. Do you make a scene on a bus, “stop following me!” or do you hope ignoring the attempts at small talk is enough.

He didn’t need to take that bus. He specifically followed me. I’m not sure any of this was criminal. Not even the grabbing of my arm, I don’t think. I can’t imagine a woman being flattered by this behavior.
 
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Yup. Especially as bus stops aren’t always in the greatest neighborhood. From what I’d seen of the place, I wouldn’t have guaranteed that if I had made a fuss, that anyone would have stepped in if he had tried to hit me. And I’ve been concerned about being followed home before - I had a few times where I stopped at the nearby drugstore and pretended to browse for 15min to ensure I wasn’t followed.
 
F_Marturana said:
then got off at my stop, grabbed my arm and would not let go unless I agreed to meet him the following day for a date.
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If that happened to my sister, I would go with her and intimidate the creep. I would record everything. Men like that are dangerous and deserve to be “roughed up”. Very disturbing 😒 Stay safe 🙏
 
That’s actually how I got rid of the guy who wouldn’t leave me alone. I brought a very large male friend along. When he came over I walked very close with my friend so he was between me and the other guy, and permitted bus stop guy to draw his own conclusions.
 
F_Marturana said:
He didn’t need to take that bus. He specifically followed me. I’m not sure any of this was criminal. Not even the grabbing of my arm, I don’t think. I can’t imagine a woman being flattered by this behavior.
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The whole grabbing your arm is too far.

If you were talking to him, it was fine if he was with you and then he wouldn’t be following you. But if you were ignoring him, that’s a different story.

Sounds like another nightmare public transit scenario.
DarkLight said:
Yup. Especially as bus stops aren’t always in the greatest neighborhood.
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Bus stops are often problematic. I know the PC crowd doesn’t like me saying this, but the problem is there’s a lot of people who get free passes from some government welfare office and just ride around all day and some of them will do things to make their life more…shall we say interesting.

BTW, I’m really sorry all this stupid stuff happens to you. You’re too nice for that.
 
Most of it seemed to be centered around one area. It was a lot of young men, mostly college students at a not very good school. The students got free bus rides as part of their tuition. And most every 18 year old thinks they’re God’s gift to the opposite sex. I try to be encouraged that it was mostly young men - I suspect once they get a bit older they realize that random women at the bus stop isn’t really a good strategy (and hopefully realize there’s more to relationships than just getting some woman).
 
F_Marturana said:
I got followed once by a man who saw me waiting for a bus and tried making small talk. then got on my bus, sat near me and persisted in making small talk and complements, then got off at my stop, grabbed my arm and would not let go unless I agreed to meet him the following day for a date.

It was nerve wracking. Do you make a scene on a bus, “stop following me!” or do you hope ignoring the attempts at small talk is enough.

He didn’t need to take that bus. He specifically followed me. I’m not sure any of this was criminal. Not even the grabbing of my arm, I don’t think. I can’t imagine a woman being flattered by this behavior.
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Yea, that’s a weird one. He harassed you but it doesn’t cross any lines that could cross criminal lines, even grabbing your arm would likely not amount to anything.

When younger I recall the adage being shared that it was just a % game in bars, just keep asking until one says yes. Never comprehended this approach but knew a few guys who did seem to go that way. Don’t think these guys even thought of it as sexual harassment.
 
Theo520 said:
Yea, that’s a weird one. He harassed you but it doesn’t cross any lines that could cross criminal lines, even grabbing your arm would likely not amount to anything.
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Technically, grabbing her arm would be an assault and battery, but I doubt the police would do much since he let go. The thing to do is tell him in no uncertain terms to stop following, and not get off the bus until after he does. If women don’t speak up or take action, it encourages aggressors and aggression.

Today, with mobile phones, all of that is unnecessary. Call police immediately. They usually will escort someone home even if they won’t pursue the man. These people don’t want trouble. Let them know they are going to get trouble if the bother you, and they usually stop.
 
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ConstantLearner said:
Technically, grabbing her arm would be an assault and battery, nut I doubt the police would do much since he let go. The thing to do is tell him in no uncertain terms to stop following, and not get off the bus until after he does. If women don’t speak up or take action, it encourages aggressors and aggression.

Today, with mobile phones, all of that is unnecessary. Call police immediately. They usually will escort someone home even if they won’t pursue the man.
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I honestly can’t see this doing much other than making you repeatedly late for work. Trust me, I’ve had plenty of times where I did tell a guy in no uncertain terms to stop following me, and it didn’t do a thing to change the behavior. And when you’ve witnessed actual fights with no police intervention, your credence that they’re going to show up just because someone is following you around goes way down.

And no, this wasn’t in what most people would consider a particularly bad area. Middle class suburbs, no, but it wasn’t inner city Detroit either.
 
I’ve had, and still do have, plenty of men try to follow me, and more, but I can shut them down. Sounds like you aren’t forceful enough. And I live in LA where “anything goes.”
 
I’d be afraid that being too forceful would result in a violent response. See the aforementioned comments about actual fights.

Really the only thing I’ve found to work is another man getting involved. But one can’t exactly rely on that.
 
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