Digital feminism: In the aftermath of #MeToo, what’s next for workplace equity for women?

Abstract

This article seeks to analyze the aftereffects of the #MeToo movement to measure the efficacy of digital feminism. Perhaps the most recognizable outcome of the #MeToo movement is forcing a once-taboo subject of workplace sexual harassment into the limelight. The digital phenomenon prompted federal and state courts across the United States to navigate a seemingly new terrain of contributing to broader institutional change in reducing sexism. Yet, four years after the two-word hashtag ricocheted through social media, one pressing question remains: Did the benefits of the #MeToo movement produce changes for female workers in the United States most vulnerable to facing gender-based violence or harassment in the workplace? The study first identifies the factors that often put women at greater risk of sexual harassment in the workplace and determines women in authority and low-wage workers as victims who may be more frequent targets. The article explores the question of gender violence and a lack of access to economic rights as being two sides of the same coin. The research then surveys how governments—in the post-#MeToo era—have attempted to improve gender equality through legal obligations, and whether their attempts were effective in targeting the correct groups.