Section 2: The current context for this Inquiry The #MeToo movement has seen victims of sexual harassment, especially women, turning to social media to raise allegations, share their experiences and find solidarity with other victims of sexual harassment. The hashtag is used regularly in more than 85 countries.94 The impact of the #MeToo movement reinforces the power of digital platforms as a means for victims to raise awareness about sexual harassment and gendered violence: In a sense, these emerging forms of cyber justice are really forms of collective justice. Victim-survivors are empowered to share their experiences and to be heard—at the same time as society more broadly is challenged to listen and to take action to stop sexual violence.95 Social media can be a means for victims to regain or retain agency over their story and recovery.96 It can also provide victims a voice they would not have in non-digital contexts.97 However, victims of sexual harassment face both benefits and risks when they share their experiences online. For many victims, social media is a last resort. eSafety told the Commission that employer responses which focus on protecting the reputational brand of the company, rather than protecting and promoting the wellbeing of employees online, can drive victims to use social media.98 WHISE argued that the internet: 80 … can both empower [women] by giving them a space to speak out in way[s] that they may not be able to in the nondigital world, but it can also constrain them as sexist gendered norms are perpetuated online in the same way they are offline.99 Victorian Women Lawyers argued that while social media is a powerful medium for victims, ‘traditional forms of justice must remain viable and accessible to ensure fairness for the victim, perpetrator and employer alike.’100 (c) Balancing transparency with other considerations It is not only victims who can be harmed by media reporting or the use of social media to raise allegations of sexual harassment. There can be significant career, financial and psychological impacts on alleged harassers and costs to organisations. Where allegations have been raised through social media, the lack of any formal process for testing these or natural justice can cause damage to all parties. eSafety, which has a number of programs and initiatives designed to protect and promote women’s voices online, argued that a victim’s agency and recovery need to be prioritised in conjunction with principles of due process and natural justice to the alleged harasser.101 The Commission agrees that it is important to balance the rights of victims and alleged harassers and uphold the law.