It has been a year of progress since the “me too” movement burst into the forefront of media. Sexual assault and harassment have been narratives told by women for far too long, but this movement brought this issue front and center, garnering worldwide attention.

“Me too” may have gained momentum just one short year ago, but its history goes back quite a few more years, to 2006, according to their website. The movement was founded by Tarana Burke with the goal to help survivors of sexual violence, especially black women and girls and other young women of color, find a pathway to healing. The mission of the movement was to both address the lack of resources for survivors of sexual violence and create a community of advocates. They believe these survivors will be at the forefront of creating solutions to stop sexual violence in their communities.

“We shouldn’t just talk about those big stories, but also those small ones,” said Tjorven Sievers, women in policy member, Oregon State University graduate student and “‘me too’ taking stock” event coordinator.

Oregon State University seeks to honor this momentous year and celebrate the achievements of the “me too” movement with “Taking stock: #metoo- how far have we come?”

According to Sievers, the event was inspired by the student-organized discussion series at the school of public policy called ‘fact check Friday.’

“We talk about recent news events and we had one on the recent ‘me too’ movement last spring,” said Sievers. “It made sense to look at OSU here on campus and which groups work on sexual harassment, sexual assault or may be affected by it. And it was an idea to bring these different perspectives on it because it is probably not the same for every group. We hope to bring in their perspective and talk about what has happened in the last year and a half, maybe things have changed, maybe they haven’t.”

Put on by WiP, it will host a panel of speakers representing different perspectives from both OSU and our Corvallis community; Emalydia Flemory from the Women of Color Caucus, Kristen Dewey will represent the Center Against Rape and Domestic violence, Dr. Kelsy Kretschmer, school of public policy and Kimberly Hack from LSCW, OSU Survivor Advocacy and Resource Center.

“From my perspective, it is really important to have the discussion element included so people who have questions might have someone to ask,” said, Alicia Ward, Graduate Student, WiP member and event coordinator. “Additionally, we brought in a letter writing session so people could have a productive outlet for any anger or emotions they are feeling about the current situation. It was really important for us from the beginning to have not just academics telling us what’s going on, we wanted to have different diverse perspectives on how people are experiencing it, how practitioners are experiencing it.”

This event, hosted on Feb. 1, 2019, in the Memorial Union from 12 to 2 p.m. in room 206. Attendance happens on a first come, first serve basis, no registration needed. Lunch will be provided.

If interested in getting involved or volunteering in any of the organization listed in this article, please visit their websites for more information.

Women in Policy: https://stuorgs.oregonstate.edu/womeninpolicy,   

Women’s Center: https://dce.oregonstate.edu/wgc,

Center Against Rape and Domentic Violence: https://www.domesticshelters.org,

OSU Survivor and Advocacy Center: https://studenthealth.oregonstate.edu/sarc