As I was scrolling through Facebook while sitting in my biopsychology class, something unusual caught my eye. A girl who I used to be good friends with in high school posted a status with the words "Me too" and a story about how she had been sexually assaulted only a couple years ago.

The words caught me by surprise.

Someone who had seemed so happy with her life, always posting on Instagram and Snapchat about how amazing her life was and all of the friends she had, was standing before a crowd of over 800 Facebook friends to tell them something so personal and horrific.

I passed six more posts that same day. Six more girls in my life who had experienced a traumatic event in their life involving molestation or even rape. Each one starting their story with the words "Me too."

So what does "Me too" even mean?

After many allegations of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein arose this last week, Alyssa Milano, an actress best known for her roles in Charmed, My Name Is Earl, Mistresses, and Who's The Boss? started an online campaign to address the magnitude of the issue.

Not only does the hashtag allow people to see how immense this problem is, "Me too" is also a way for women across the globe to have a voice. The phrase allows them to open up about their own experiences, and it also starts a conversation about what many people believe to be a taboo topic.

Since the original tweet by Milano, #MeToo has been tweeted, posted on Facebook, even Instagram-ed over 600,000 times. Even some famous actresses and artists have joined in with their own experiences or even just a simple #MeToo to show they too have been sexually harassed or assaulted.

Even the famous 2012 Olympic gymnast, McKayla Maroney opened up about how she was raped using the #MeToo.

Sexual assault is an issue not to be taken lightly. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), "one in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives." One in five is a very large number of women, and because of the magnitude, it's difficult to understand why we haven't focused on this issue more heavily before.

The #MeToo campaign is only the start of the conversation concerning sexual assault. If you or someone you know has fallen victim to this horrific crime, please reach out. There are amazing resources out there such as RAINN and NSVRC which have hotlines you can talk to for support, safety and protection articles, and even ways you can help others who are in need.

Never feel like you don't have a voice. I promise you have one; you need only use it.

#MeToo