Sexual harassment rates remain steady in post-MeToo era

A new report out of Tulane University shows that reports of sexual harassment and assault have remained steady over the last six years, despite the rise of the #MeToo movement in 2018.

And in the weeks leading up to and following an election that focused heavily on women’s and reproductive rights, both online and in-person harassment surged across the nation and here in Pima County.

In several Facebook community groups, parents posted about reports of the phrase, “your body, my choice” making its way through local middle and high schools.

This tracks with what researchers from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found, with the volume of mentions of the phrase “your body, my choice” increasing by more than 4,600% on X in a 24-hour period following the election.

The group tracked narratives targeting women across X, TikTok, Facebook and Reddit and found the use of derogatory and misogynistic language dramatically increased in the three days following the election.

It also noted that the phrase increased in popularity offline, specifically in schools, with young girls and parents across the country sharing on social media stories of the phrase being directed at them by male classmates while in school.

Researchers at Tulane also saw an increase in sexual harassment directed at younger women, most notably those ages 25 through 34.

More than 50% of women surveyed reported experiencing some form of verbal sexual harassment in their life, with 73% of women saying that they’d been harassment by a stranger in public.

“These results speak to the need for greater work to combat these issues across spheres,” the study said. “They also suggest that recent improvements in awareness of the concern and legislative protection are insufficient to affect this issue.”

Photographer Ivanna Montaño, who goes by the name “Ivanna films” on TikTok and Instagram, was recently harassed  by a pair of men in downtown Tucson. She captured the exchange on camera.

While the incident took place shortly before Halloween, Montaño said it took her several weeks to upload the video because editing it and revisiting the experience gave her anxiety.

In the end, she said she decided to post the video to send a message to the men who harassed her.

“I thought, well these men are going to be okay, they’re going to be comfortable with continuing to do these things and say things to women who aren't even doing anything,” she told Tucson Spotlight. “I felt that they needed to be called out so they wouldn’t do these kinds of things again. It just wasn’t fair and I wasn’t going to just let it happen.”

In the video, Montaño is seen walking down Congress Street, talking in Spanish about a pair of stylish girls she’s encountered. The video is a part of a series where she asks strangers if she can take their photo, a trend that has become popular in recent years. 

She approaches a woman outside of Batch, a locally owned whiskey and doughnut bar, and the two begin an impromptu photo shoot on the restaurant’s patio.

At first, two employees go about their business, but after a while they stop working and come outside to watch.

One starts commenting on the photo shoot and asks Montaño to take his picture. She refuses, but he continues to persist until he eventually tells the women they’re on private property, swearing and calling them names as he tells them to leave.

“I felt unsafe at that moment because we were only women and there were no people around and it was late,” she said. “That's why I also feel that they did and acted the way they acted, because if they had had clients or people around, they would not have been yelling those things at us.”

Batch posted on Facebook Tuesday that both employees shown in the video have been suspended and the incident is under investigation.

“As part of the downtown community for nearly a decade, we do not condone disrespecting any of our fellow humans,” the post said. .

This isn’t the first time that Montaño has been harassed on the streets of Tucson. A 2022 video showing her being catcalled during a photo shoot by passing motorists has racked up nearly 3 million views on TikTok.

While this most recent interaction has changed the way she films these kinds of videos, she said it won’t stop her from doing her work. 

“I will continue doing it, but in places where I really feel like I'm safe and the truth is that I don't feel safe going out alone,” she said. “I already told my husband that he now has to accompany me to certain places when I am doing this type of work. I am completely sure that this would not have happened if we had had people with us who were taking care of us.”

Susan Barnett is Deputy Editor of Tucson Spotlight and a graduate student at the University of Arizona. She previously worked for La Estrella de Tucson. Contact her at susan@tucsonspotlight.org.

Caitlin Schmidt is Editor and Publisher of Tucson Spotlight. She previously worked for the Arizona Daily Star and has been reporting on Southern Arizona for a decade. Contact her at caitlin@tucsonspotlight.org.

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