Germaine Greer thinks Me Too is failing to protect women

Germaine Greer has said women are not being protected by the #MeToo movement, the global reckoning over sexual misconduct which rose in the closing months of last year.

The eminent and often controversial feminist sparked outrage after calling the alleged victims of sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein "career rapees" who have "extraordinary exposure".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the author of 'The Female Eunuch' pointed to Weinstein's assistant, Zelda Perkins, as an example of the "absolute hell" women can be put through when speaking up.

Rather than arguing that sexual assault victims should therefore be given extra protection, she warned them that it was "pointless" speaking up years on from an attack. She added:

The amount of legal muscle that will be used to defend these people is massive and I'm concerned for damage limitation, rather than maximisation.

Rather than wrecking people's lives so they become career rapees.

Building on past comments where she had accused Harvey Weinstein's victims of "spreading their legs" in return for movie roles, the 79-year-old also said:

Some of whom have been paid six figure sums in the form of non-disclosure agreements.  

That's a dishonorable thing to accept and it's not something you should boast about.

The outspoken academic went onto criticise the #MeToo movement for not working:

None of the things we're doing actually work to protect women from abuse.

Many people on social media were incensed by the comments.

Carys Afoko, Executive Director of feminist group Level Up told indy100:

The Hollywood women who came forward are brave. It’s not their job to solve a problem they didn’t create.

#MeToo showed the power of personal stories and shone a light on how common sexual violence and harassment are. Hollywood is the tip of the iceberg.

Now the extent of the abuse is beginning to be uncovered we need to focus on supporting victims, holding perpetrators accountable and changing our culture.

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