Time magazine names #MeToo victims of sexual misconduct Person of the Year

THE victims who have spoken out against sexual misconduct have been recognised by Time magazine as ‘Person of the Year’.

TIME magazine named The Silence Breakers who revealed the pervasiveness of sexual harassment and assault across various industries that triggered a national reckoning in the United States as Person of the Year.

“This is the fastest moving social change we’ve seen in decades, and it began with individual acts of courage by hundreds of women — and some men, too — who came forward to tell their own stories,” editor in chief Edward Felsenthal told the US Today show.

The Silence Breakers designates a broad range of people, mostly women, from this year’s first public accusers of disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein to those who shared their stories of abuse using the hashtag #MeToo and its foreign language equivalents.

Donald Trump has come second in Time’s Person of the Year race. Picture: Supplied

Actress Rose McGowan has been one of the faces of the #MeToo campaign. Picture: Getty

US President Donald Trump was runner-up of the prestigious ranking, ahead of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The shortlist also included North Korean despot Kim Jung-un and special counsel and former FBI director Robert Mueller.

The president last month bragged that the magazine had been in touch to say he would “probably” win but he “took a pass” on being named again in 2017 — a claim Time denied.

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller. Picture: AFP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Picture: AFP

Time’s cover story features some of the women who spoke out against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who has resigned from his production company and faces more than 80 sexual misconduct allegations dating back to the 1970s.

Harvey Weinstein (L) and some of the women who have accused him of sexual assault including, Rose McGowan, Angelina Jolie, Lea Seydoux, Mira Sorvino, television reporter Lauren Sivan and US actress Jessica Barth. Picture: AFP

While activist Tarana Burke launched the concept of #MeToo years ago, it became part of the national discourse in October when Charmed star Alyssa Milano called on people to share their own sexual-abuse stories.

Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan. Picture: Supplied

Her Charmed co-star Rose McGowan, who settled with Weinstein in 1997 after accusing him of rape, has said she wanted to expose how Hollywood has instilled a culture of silence to protect the powerful.

“The number of people sharing their stories with me is so intense, especially since all of this is incredibly triggering for me as well,” McGowan told Time, according to NBC News. “People forget a lot that there’s a human behind this, someone who is very hurt.”

Weinstein has denied all allegations that he engaged in non-consensual sex with women, and no criminal charges have been leveled against him.

Burke told the magazine that the stigma for sexual assault and harassment victims has long been a badge of disgrace — but now the climate has shifted.

“Sexual harassment does bring shame,” she said. “And I think it’s really powerful that this transfer is happening, that these women are able not just to share their shame but to put the shame where it belongs: on the perpetrator.”