Tarana Burke, founder of MeToo: the campaign is now "unrecognizable"

The founder of the MeToo movement said that the campaign against sexual violence that began more than 10 years ago had become "unrecognizable" for her.

Tarana Burke, of TEDWomen in Palm Springs, said that a media reaction described the move as a witch hunt.

"Suddenly, a movement to center the victims of sexual violence is presented as a vindictive plot against men," she said.

"The victims are heard and then defamed."

She wanted to return to the original intent that she had for MeToo when, in 2006, she wrote the words on a piece of paper as a way to launch a plan of action to combat sexual violence that she saw in her community.

The sentence became a hashtag used worldwide last year as a result of allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, but Burke says the campaign neglects those created to help.

"My vision of the Me Too movement is part of a collective vision for a world without sexual violence," she told delegates at the TED conference (Technology, Entertainment and Design).

"There is a movement around one in four girls and one in six boys who are sexually assaulted each year and who carry their injuries up to the age of one. adulthood, "she says.

Ms. Burke said following events such as the election of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court despite accusations of sexual misconduct – which he denied – that US politicians seem "to turn away from the question".

"This movement has been called a decisive moment, but some days I wake up feeling that all the evidence shows otherwise," she said.

She ended her speech by advocating that victims not be forced to relive their traumas by talking to them and she called for the continuation of the fight against "power and privilege".

"We need to re-educate ourselves and our children to understand that power and privilege should not always be destroyed and carried away – they can be used to serve and build," she said.