Good morning! Trump pauses Mexico tariffs, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul protects doctors prescribing abortion medication, and #MeToo is going strong in Europe.
- Still going strong. In the U.S., it can feel like the #MeToo movement has hit a wall. Donald Trump is president, despite a bevy of allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct and even being found liable in civil court for the sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll. Weeks of headlines and confirmation-process outrage from Democrats couldn't stop Trump's defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, from getting confirmed. (Both men have denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.)
But in Europe, the #MeToo movement has picked up steam. French director Christophe Ruggia was found guilty yesterday of the sexual assault of actor Adèle Haenel in the early 2000s, when she was between 12 and 15 years old. (His attorney says he plans to appeal.) Haenel is known in the U.S. for her starring role in the film Portrait of a Lady on Fire; she was the first actor to voice concerns about sexual abuse in the French film industry in public and walked out at the César Awards in 2020 when Roman Polanski won best director. The case is France's first major #MeToo trial about sexual abuse in the workplace. Its verdict arrives after the country was captivated last year by Gisèle Pelicot and the trial against her husband and rapist Dominique Pelicot.
Concurrently, in Spain, another trial about sexual misconduct at work is just starting. Luis Rubiales, the former head of Spain's soccer federation, began his trial yesterday for kissing player Jenni Hermoso, allegedly without her consent, after Spain's team won the Women's World Cup in 2023. He's charged with sexual assault and coercion for allegedly trying to force Hermoso to support his version of events afterward, both of which he denies. (A new law in Spain means that sexual assault and sexual harassment are now considered the same offense.)
Hermoso told the court yesterday that the kiss "tainted one of the happiest days of [her] life." She said that she received death threats in the aftermath of the incident. Prosecutors are asking for a two-and-a-half year sentence for Rubiales and a ban on his ability to serve as a sports official. The trial is set to continue for the next two weeks.
Taken together, this feels like a complete 180 from the days when the #MeToo movement was at its strongest in the U.S.; other countries at the time, including France, were slower to accept similar efforts to root out sexual abuse and abusers. Now the world has caught up, while the U.S. falls behind. On the one hand, it's disheartening that misogyny seems to reign stateside so far in 2025. On the other, it's encouraging that our backslide doesn't have to be the standard everywhere.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
