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Google has created an awe-inspiring interactive 3D visualisation tool called Me Too Rising, to showcase where the #MeToo movement has trended in the world, and at the top of the list is India.
Earlier this year, it was reported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation that India was the most dangerous country for women to live in.
Read: India’s the most dangerous country for women. SA doesn’t make worst list
The tool, which allows the user to scroll around a virtual spinning globe, tracks the search term MeToo from October 1 2017 till the current day, and lights up the cities with the highest proportion of search interest in the sexual assault awareness movement.
It also links back to stories specific to that country.
Google says the visualisation tool was created in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
For South Africa, Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg have showed significant traction with the number of #MeToo searches being done on Google at various times in the year.
For example, in June this year the state broadcaster, the SABC, had announced that it was joining the global movement following reports of “sex for jobs” within the organisation. The term #MeToo then trended briefly in the country, which can be viewed on the map.
Key moments in the reporting of sexual abuse allegations are recorded, with the Harvey Weinstein saga most prominent in October 2017, with North America lighting up.
In India, former actress Tanushree Dutta added her voice to the movement when she made allegations against co-star Nana Patekar. India is the most brightly lit, painting a picture of how the movement reached the entire country, not just major cities.
The site was launched in April by Google, when Google’s public policy and government relations senior counsel, Malika Saada Saar called the #MeToo movement “a significant moment in internet history”.
“#MeToo marks a time when sexual assault survivors everywhere turned the internet into a platform for their voices and perspectives to be heard and respected,” she said.
The site also provides resources for sexual assault victims to help report or deal with the trauma that they have experienced.
