A picture shows the messages "#Me too" and #Balancetonporc ("expose your pig") on the hand of a protester during a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence called by the Effronte-e-s Collective, on the Place de la Republique square in Paris on October 29, 2017. #MeToo hashtag, is the campaign encouraging women to denounce experiences of sexual abuse that has swept across social media in the wake of the wave of allegations targeting Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. / AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY (Photo credit should read BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images)
A picture shows the messages "#Me too" and #Balancetonporc ("expose your pig") on the hand of a protester during a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence called by the Effronte-e-s Collective, on the Place de la Republique square in Paris on October 29, 2017. #MeToo hashtag, is the campaign encouraging women to denounce experiences of sexual abuse that has swept across social media in the wake of the wave of allegations targeting Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. / AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY (Photo credit should read BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images)
BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images
CNN  — 

About a year after the #MeToo movement gained widespread attention following publication of accusations of sexual assault against former Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein, about two-thirds of Americans (65%) say sexual harassment is an extremely or very serious problem in the country today, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

CNN's October Poll

  • Majority oppose Kavanaugh, but his popularity grows with GOP
  • Two-thirds call sexual harassment a serious problem in the US today
  • Economy and trade are bright spots for Trump
  • Democrats are fired up and maintain a strong 2018 lead
  • Public supports Russia probe, Robert Mueller, Rod Rosenstein

    • That’s about the same as it was in December of last year, when 68% called it a deeply serious problem. Women are more likely to see sexual harassment as a problem than men, 71% of women say so versus 58% of men (that’s down five points for men since last December, while among women, there’s been just a two-point shift).

    Democrats see such harassment as a more serious problem than Republicans, with 87% of Democrats calling it very serious, compared with 49% of Republicans.

    Concern over the issue is double what it was 20 years ago. The question was also asked in 1998, around the time of the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal. At the time, a third of Americans said sexual harassment was a serious problem in the country and only 9% thought it was deeply serious.

    This year the issue of sexual assault has become a campaign issue after Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice despite allegations made against him by Christine Blasey Ford.

    President Donald Trump has called the #MeToo era a “scary time” for young men and warned supporters that their husbands or sons could be falsely accused. First lady Melania Trump told ABC News that while harassment is a problem, women need evidence if they say they’re victims.

    The CNN Poll was conducted by SSRS October 4-7 among a random national sample of 1,009 adults reached on landlines or cellphones by a live interviewer. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.