WASHINGTON — Time Magazine named the “Silence Breakers” as their 91st Person of the Year.
“The Silence Breakers are the voices that launched a movement,” said Edward Felsenthal, editor-in-chief of Time Magazine.
The movement began spontaneously in October after actress-activist Alyssa Milano followed on a suggestion from a friend of a friend on Facebook and tweeted: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”
The hashtag was tweeted nearly a million times in 48 hours. The #MeToo movement was founded by activist Tarana Burke on Twitter a decade ago to raise awareness about sexual violence.
Felsenthal said the women who came forward with stories of sexual harassment created “the fastest moving social change we’ve seen in decades.”
In the wake of revelations about Harvey Weinstein and other men, millions have shared their stories about being sexually harassed and assaulted.
“It began with individual acts of courage by hundreds of women — and some men too — who came forward to tell their own stories of sexual harassment and assault,” Felsenthal said.
The announcement was made Wednesday on NBC’s “Today” show, where longtime host Matt Lauer was recently fired amid harassment allegations.
“One of the important things we explore in our coverage around the issue is … we look at the degree to which this is really just the beginning and how far will it go? How deep into the country? How long lasting?” Felsenthal added.
The cover depicts actress Ashley Judd, musician Taylor Swift, lobbyist Adama Iwu, strawberry picker Isabel Pascual (a pseudonym), former Uber engineer Susan Fowler and a woman who is out of the frame except for her elbow.
Felsenthal said that the woman on the cover is a hospital worker who shared her story with Time, but doesn’t feel as though she can come forward without threatening her livelihood.
Time interviewed dozens of women and men for their story.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were the runners-up. Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct but has denied any wrongdoing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
