Emma Watson Donates Over $1 Million Towards Victims of Sexual Harassment

metro.co.uk

metro.co.uk

Sarah Tawfeek, Contributing Writer

On Feb. 15, actress and activist Emma Watson donated over $1 million to an anti-sexual harassment campaign dedicated towards ending sexual harassment in the U.K.

Inspired by the #metoo and Time’s Up Movement, the campaign named the UK Justice and Equality Fund is said to “create the far-reaching personal, social, legal and policy changes that will ensure everyone can feel safe at work, at play and at home.” The campaign had made more than 275 donations over the course of two days. Women from the entertainment industry have come together to fight against sexual harassment and have worked to eliminate the issue in all of its aspects.

As an active activist in the UK community, Emma Watson took initiative to support those have been affected by sexual harassment and donated a large sum of money to the cause. Emma Watson stated that “it’s easy to dismiss harassment and abuse as being caused by ‘one or two really, really bad men’ but the UK statistics point to a much bigger and more structural problem.”

According to The Telegraph, one in five women are sexually harassed at work in the UK which makes up about 14 percent of women in the workplace. Polling had suggested that there was a significant age difference in sexual harassment crimes with 19 percent of victims being aged between 18-34 while the remaining 7 percent were over the age of 55.

With the staggering statistics of sexual harassment crimes, Emma Watson shared her stance on Twitter.

She also later tweeted that “I also stand with all the men, indeed any person, who has suffered sexual harassment.”

The UK Justice and Equality fund has raised about $2.2 million a day after the fund was publicized at Britain’s BAFTA film awards. For more information on the campaign, head to their page at gofundme.com.