The #MeToo movement accomplished three important things. First, it made apparent how much more common sexual assault and workplace sexual harassment are than many realized. Second, it established a societal right for women voicing an allegation to be heard. Third and most importantly, it created a general consensus that social consequences ought to be felt if an allegation seemed true more likely than not.
This was true even of older accusations, so long as there were contemporaneous corroborating witnesses. Seeing as most sexual abusers tend to be serial offenders with predictable patterns of behavior, even the more thinly sourced allegations could be bolstered by a series of women — dozens, in some cases — independently alleging similar offenses. This tendency has also helped filter out weak, lightly corroborated or uncorroborated allegations, as those against the since-vindicated Charles Payne and Aziz Ansari.
