#MeToo or #TooMuch? : The Belgian anti-sexism law and the fight against sexism

Abstract

In 2017, American film producer Harvey Weinstein fell from grace after a series of disclosures and accusations by several women who said/confessed that they had been sexually assaulted by the Hollywood tycoon. Their revelations ignited a protest movement against sexism that became known over the world as the #MeToo movement. The targets of these accusations are predominantly men in powerful positions. In 2014, Belgium adopted a law that defines sexism and qualifies it as a criminal offense. With this new law against sexism, as with the euthanasia legislation earlier, Belgium took a much more radical position than any other country in Europe today. This thesis addresses three fundamentally intertwined issues: 1) What does #MeToo teach us about the sexist structures of power in a patriarchal order? 2) What does the Belgian anti-sexism law say? 3) Do we need a new (revised, fine-tuned, updated,..) legal framework to heed and protect and defend the claims and concerns of #MeToo, and if so, how can the Belgian anti-sexism law serve as a model or at least a source of inspiration?