Time Magazine highlights rural America in Person of the Year story about 'Me Too' survivors - Entrepreneur Generations

Isabel Pascual (Time photo)

When Time Magazine announced its Person of the Year was "the Silence Breakers", that is, the  survivors of sexual harassment and assault who came forward with their stories, some were quick to dismiss it as a celebrity-oriented movement. And it's true that two of the women on the cover are celebrities Ashley Judd and Taylor Swift. But sexual harassment and assault affects men and women all over the country, and Time was intentional about making sure the photo and the story included rural residents and concerns.

On the left side of the picture is a woman, originally from Mexico, who works as a strawberry picker in California. Her name is given as Isabel Pascual, but it's a pseudonym to protect her family from reprisal after she spoke out about the dangers faced by migrant agricultural workers.

An anonymous sexual harassment
survivor from small-town Texas.
(Time photo)

And at the far right, not even a face: an elbow. Time explained in an editorial that the arm belongs to an anonymous young hospital worker from Texas who fears that coming forward about her sexual harassment would subject her family to reprisal. "She is faceless on the cover and remains nameless inside TIME’s red borders, but her appearance is an act of solidarity, representing all those who are not yet able to come forward and reveal their identities," Melissa Chan writes for Time.

Joe Scarborough addressed the point directly yesterday during a Morning Joe interview with some of the editors at Time: "So the question is, we certainly have heard from a lot of people who've been harassed by famous people in the media and politics and in Hollywood. How does this movement spread to Middle America, where people who aren't working for the rich and famous get just as much justice from somebody that's harassing them in Demopolis, Alabama?"

Kira Pollack, Director of Photography and Visual Enterprise at Time, responded: "It was really important to us to report not only the famous and the notable but also the unknown, the women who represent a much larger swath of the culture."

For example, a young Native American office assistant who spoke to Time said she quit her job after a co-worker began harassing her. She says she felt trapped because she didn't think her colleagues or family on her small, conservative reservation would believe her. "I stayed anonymous because I live in a very small community. And they just think usually that we're lying and complainers."

Sexual harassment or assault survivors in rural areas may face additional obstacles because of "limited access to support services for victims, familial connections with those in positions of authority, a lack of cultural acceptance for alternative lifestyles, distance, transportation barriers, the stigma of abuse, lack of available shelters, and poverty as a barrier to care, among other challenges," Rural Health Info reports. "In small communities there is often an overlap among healthcare providers, law enforcement officers, and abuse victims. Therefore, some people may be reluctant to report abuse, fearing that their concerns will not be taken seriously or that their reputations may be damaged."

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2j4FWA5 Time Magazine highlights rural America in Person of the Year story about 'Me Too' survivors - Entrepreneur Generations

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