Time’s Up

Celebrities Call to Action

On January 7, black dresses and suits flooded the Golden Globes in solidarity with the “Time’s Up” campaign.

The movement, backed by Hollywood celebrities, was officially launched on the first day of the new year, as a call to action after a large number women came out to speak about their experiences of sexual assault and harassment.

The campaign started with a letter of solidarity originally signed by actresses, including Amy Poehler, Laverne Cox, Tracee Ellis Ross, and more than 300 others. Anyone’s name can be added to the list if they donate any amount of money to TIME’S UP Legal Defence Fund, founded by the same 300 plus women who signed the letter, through the cause’s GoFundMe page.

This fund, which has reached $19.6 million of the $20.5 million goal, will provide aid and legal support for women and men who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace. The fund will ultimately be housed at and administered by the National Women’s Law Center, a national women’s rights non-profit based in Washington, DC. The Center advocates for women’s rights through litigation and policy initiatives.

“We also recognize our privilege, and the fact that we have access to enormous platforms to amplify our voices,” the writers of the letter said. This raises a question: Are they bringing together their access to the platforms to the best of their abilities–– given the national status that they have? 

Yes, the sea of black dresses showed a solidarity that the red carpet has never seen, but that can only do so much. We cannot let this campaign slip into the cracks to be forgotten once the fund has reached its goal. Now that these celebrities have put this responsibility on themselves, they must uphold what they have started. This can’t be the issue’s 15-secondsoffame, but rather something that continues to follow through with its mission.

This is not to say that thus far they have done nothing. The fund will certainly help many people, men and women who are in compromising and uncomfortable situations, and they have brought attention to an issue that has been swept under the rug for such a long time.

This is about the celebrities who started Time’s UP having a short lived time in the spotlight when it came to this campaign and this issue. These women have begun something amazing, and now it’s up for us to continue what they started. Not by just donating money, but by talking about this deeply-rooted issue, in order to remove the stigma surrounding sexual harassment. We too can continue to participate in these hard conversations here at Parkerand call out when we see particularly women being treated unfairly within our own halls.