The paradigm of the #MeToo movement has shifted to a #TimesUp dynamic, a phrasing that encourages action and accountability more so than its antecedent.

The hashtag is linked to the TIME’S UP legal defense, gender parity, and anti-harassment plan, which was publicly launched to ring in the new year on a positive note by a slew of women in the entertainment industry.

No doubt the barrage of press attributed to unveiling the nasty truths of sexual violence predominantly perpetrated by men in power and the nomination of “The Silence Breakers” as TIME’s Person of The Year for 2017 gave impetus to this latest initiative.

The 300 women who backed #TimesUp addressed their support for the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas in a letter of solidarity. A group of over 700,000 female farmworkers penned a statement expressing empathy and urging elite women to use their platforms to combat harassment in the workplace across all industries.

In the past two weeks, the GoFundMe campaign to provide subsidized legal support for victims of abuse has raised 14.2 million dollars, increasingly inching towards the 15 million dollar goal. The Fund will be administered by the National Women’s Law Center.

The women behind TIME’S UP will continue to work closely with experts for “equality and safety to improve laws, employment agreements, and corporate policies; help change the face of corporate boardrooms and the C-suite; and enable more women and men to access our legal system to hold wrongdoers accountable.”

These legal advocacy groups and resource centers include BetterBrave, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Equal Rights Advocates, Lean In, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, Women in Film Helpline, and 50/50 by 2020.

Optimistically, #TimesUp will call for more awareness of these issues existing broadly, across sexual orientations, socioeconomic status, and race. Moreover, sexual harassment occurs in the workplace to all types of women (and men), not just those who are actresses or producers that came forth with testimonies and personal accounts in the aftermath of “The Weinstein Effect”.

27 prominent Hispanic and Latina women signed the TIME’S UP letter and vowed to stand, fundraise, and volunteer for the organization. Their names and photos are featured in the slideshow below. This diverse and eclectic mix of television stars, singers, directors, influencers, and telenovela actresses, showing outward support for Alianza Nacional de Campesinas and other disenfranchised women of color, is incredibly powerful. If anything, it is evidence that representation in Hollywood and in the elite class is paramount, for it can even effect change off-screen.

We hope to see more media buzz and successful campaigns from TIME’S UP as 2018 carries on.
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