Emma Watson Donates $1.4 Million to UK Time's Up
Emma Watson is standing up for people affected by sexual harassment by throwing her support behind a new initiative in the UK. The Justice and Equality Fund has just launched, and Watson has already pledged $1.4 million to the campaign.
According to the organization's GoFundMe page, the new fund was "inspired by the phenomenal campaigners of #metoo, TIME'S UP, Ni Nunca Mas, the #lifeinleggings movement and others." Over $2 million dollars has already been raised, and the fund's focus is to "challenge the sexual harassment, assault and discrimination that persists across all industries and sections of society."
Much like Time's Up, the British initiative launched with an open letter from over 200 women in the movie industry being published in The Observer.
The letter reads:
"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... More than half of all women, and nearly two-thirds of women aged 18 to 24, say they have experienced sexual harassment at work... This should not be tolerated and cannot and should not be our norm. We can do better than this."
Other stars pledging their support to the fund include Keira Knightley, Tom Hiddleston, Claire Foy, Sophie Okonedo, Naomie Harris, and Carey Mulligan.
The new fund has launched on the same day as the BAFTAs, at which several female stars are walking the red carpet with activists as their plus ones. Female stars have also committed to wearing black at the event, along with Time's Up pins, to showcase their support for the growing global movement that is counteracting sexual harassment in every industry.
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