"Culturally, we have a very high bar for what constitutes sexual harassment, both socially and legally. We are more tolerant of men’s improper behavior. Any woman is used to having men commenting on her physical appearance: We call them compliments (and men think of it as just being men). No woman would go to Human Resources if a male colleague were to ask about her sexual life: We call that joking."
These are the words of Simona Siri, an Italian freelance journalist who is a regular contributor to La Stampa and Vanity Fair. In this Washington Post article published last December, she argues that cultural differences explain why the #MeToo movement played out very differently in Italy. "Very few women have come forward, and men have faced few consequences. More alarming is the fact that in Italy no politician has been implicated — nor any high-profile writer, CEO, doctor, TV personality or journalist." She adds: "In Italy, the #QuellaVoltaChe movement (the equivalent of #MeToo — it means “that time that”) generated 20,000 tweets in the first week and a lot of discussion online. Then it quietly was buried among the topics that no one really wants to address."
Here's another view from Japan: "Ours is a rigidly patriarchal society, and women are rarely invited to talk about discrimination woes. The rape culture (fictional and otherwise), however, has always thrived like barnacles on an ocean liner, partly because Japanese women have taken it upon themselves to look demure and endure, endure, endure. My grandmother used to say: For a woman to survive in Japan, she must appease her menfolk in one way or another."
#MeToo might be a global movement but its manifestations are local. 
A survey from the Angus Reid Institute published last week found views on workplace sexual harassment are shaped in large part by an individual’s age and gender but a closer look at the findings by region suggests that views in Québec differ from those in the rest of Canada. Like the vast majority of Canadians, Quebeckers believe there should be no forgiveness for sexual misconduct in the workplace but their definition of what’s acceptable and unacceptable behaviour differs.
Quebeckers take a stronger stand about sexual harassment yet they are more accepting of behaviours Canadians in the RoC find unacceptable.
Quebeckers, like Canadians living in the rest of Canada, believe the time has finally come to strongly denounce any form of sexual harassement. In fact, they appear even less forgiving.
Quebeckers are also significantly less likely to believe there is ambiguity about what sexual harassment is or how it’s defined.
At the same time, they are more likely to find some behaviours acceptable. For example, the Angus Reid survey found that for 30% of Quebeckers, a boss can "faire la bise" (cheek kiss an employee) while only 10% in the rest of Canada believe it's an acceptable behaviour.
French actress Catherine Deneuve got into trouble when she co-signed a letter published in Le Monde denouncing the #MeToo movement as a witch-hunt against men. The authors wrote “We defend the freedom to importune, indispensable for sexual freedom.” The reaction was swift and justified. Deneuve apologized.
“The freedom to importune.” Really? You can't defend the indefensible. There is no place for sexual harassment in the workplace or elsewhere. But where the lines are drawn varies depending on where people live. The Angus Reid survey suggests that people in Quebec, like in Italy and Japan, view and respond to the #MeToo movement through their own socio-cultural filter. That is also true for most global movements or moments.
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