So needed, and so necessary — and so perfect to roll out to begin 2018.
Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon, and more than 300 other prominent and powerful women in the entertainment industry rolled out a new initiative this morning called Time’s Up — and it’s all about protecting women from sexual harassment.
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The new plan includes a multi-million dollar legal defense fund made largely by donations from the rich and powerful women of Hollywood, which will in turn be used to defend women across the workforcte and all over the country who are facing backlash from sexual harassment claims at work.
The defense fund itself will be administered by the National Women’s Law Center, and it includes a GoFundMe page (HERE) that was seeking to raise an initial $15 million to begin.
By noon on New Year’s Day, the fund had raised more than $13.4 million — much of it coming from high-profile Hollywood women.
In an open letter announcing the Time’s Up initiative, the prominent women wrote in part (below):
“To every woman employed in agriculture who has had to fend off unwanted sexual advances from her boss, every housekeeper who has tried to escape an assaultive guest, every janitor trapped nightly in a building with a predatory supervisor, every waitress grabbed by a customer and expected to take it with a smile, every garment and factory worker forced to trade sexual acts for more shifts, every domestic worker or home health aide forcibly touched by a client, every immigrant woman silenced by the threat of her undocumented status being reported in retaliation for speaking up and to women in every industry who are subjected to indignities and offensive behavior that they are expected to tolerate to make a living: We stand with you. We support you.”
And prominent celebs who had a large hand in founding the organization wasted no time to start promoting it on Twitter (below):
Time’s up on silence. Time’s up on waiting. Time’s up on tolerating discrimination, harassment and abuse. #TimesUp Sign the solidarity letter & donate to the @TIMESUPNW Legal Defense Fund: https://t.co/eTwKtOboIl pic.twitter.com/q8aok1HTGg
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) January 1, 2018
I stand with ALL WOMEN across every industry to say #TIMESUP on abuse, harassment, marginalization and underrepresentation. Join me! Sign the statement of solidarity & donate to the @TIMESUPNW Legal Defense Fund: https://t.co/7FofMhTaUJ pic.twitter.com/vEB3jYCRgD
— Reese Witherspoon (@RWitherspoon) January 1, 2018
We wrote and issued this letter of solidarity to stand with women across every industry in saying: #TIMESUP. Time’s up on silence. Time’s up on waiting. Time’s up on tolerating discrimination, harassment and abuse. The @TIMESUPNOW Legal Defense Fund provides subsidized legal support across industries to those who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace. Join me! Read the letter, sign & donate: Link in bio.A post shared by America Ferrera (@americaferrera) on Jan 1, 2018 at 10:31am PST
Our letter of solidarity as a full page in the @nytimes ! #TIMESUP my Dear Sisters, reSisters, perSisters! Stand with women across every industry in saying: #TIMESUP. The @TIMESUPNOW Legal Defense Fund provides subsidized legal support across industries to those who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace. Join me! Read the letter, sign & donate: Link in bio.A post shared by America Ferrera (@americaferrera) on Jan 1, 2018 at 2:47pm PST
Bravo, ladies! BRAVO!!!!!
Let’s make 2018 the exact opposite of 2017 — and this is a great way to start the process!!
Thoughts, Perezcious readers?!
Share ’em in the comments (below)!!!
[Image via WENN.]
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