Time’s Up: Hollywood Stars Launch Initiative Against Harassment

More than 300 Hollywood A-list women, including actresses, writers and directors, have launched Time’s Up project to help fight harassment in the film industry and other workplaces.

The Time’s Up initiative was announced via a full-page advert printed in the New York Times.

The project is described as a “unified call for change from women in entertainment for women everywhere”.

It comes in the wake of abuse allegations by high-profile actresses against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

In a solidarity letter published on its website, Time’s Up says the “struggle for women to break in, to rise up the ranks and to simply be heard” must end.

It added: “Time’s up on this impenetrable monopoly.”

The letter, which is aimed at “every woman… who has had to fend off s**ual advances”, goes on to say that such harassment can often continue because “perpetrators and employers never face any consequences”.

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The Time’s Up campaign, which is backed by hundreds of actresses including Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, Cate Blanchett, Eva Longoria and Emma Stone, has already raised more than $13 million of its $15 million target.

The funds raised will be used as legal support for both female and male victims of harassment at work.

The project is aimed primarily at those who are unable to meet the payments to defend themselves, such as agricultural or factory workers, caretakers and waitresses.

The Time’s Up initiative also calls for “gender inequality and the imbalance of power” to be addressed, stressing the need for more women to gain positions of authority and parity of pay.

Last month, Time magazine named “the Silence Breakers” – women and men who spoke out against abuse and harassment – as its “Person of the Year” for 2017.

2017 also saw the rise of the #MeToo hashtag, which inspired a global movement of women and men to share their stories of abuse and harassment.

The #MeToo hashtag gained momentum after actress Alyssa Milano took to Twitter to ask victims of assault to come forward in a show of solidarity.

Between October and December 2017, #MeToo was used on Twitter and Facebook more than six million times.