Giving Compass' Take:

· During the rise of the #MeToo movement, many people pointed out that Africa seemed largely silent on the topic of sexual harassment. Al Jazeera explains the reality behind this perception and the truth of gender-based violence throughout the continent.

· South Africa has the highest number of women who are murdered at the hands of their partners in the world. How would this statistic help explain why women would stay quiet about abuse? And can we encourage them to speak up about the violence they face, while also making them feel safe to do so?

· Read more about the #MeToo movement and the role it plays in social media.

Like a baton pass in the most painful relay race ever, revelations that powerful men have — presuming a right to pleasure — sexually harassed their female colleagues spread around the world.

Starting in the entertainment industry (the first allegations were against Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein), the allegations spawned the hashtag #MeToo on social media, which was used as the revelations kept coming in politics, sports, the media and even the not-for-profit sector.

The hashtag #AidToo showed that, despite noble intentions, the development and humanitarian industry is as susceptible to the abuses of power and violence that its organisations campaign against as other industries.

In this groundswell, many remarked that the African continent seemed largely silent on the topic of sexual harassment - and gender-based violence more broadly — pointing to respectability politics (the taboo of speaking out), cultural norms, shame and the digital barrier as explanations for this perceived silence.

But, that perception does not match reality.

Limited access to Twitter, for example, didn't stop South African women from using the social media platform to proclaim that #MenAreTrash as the number of women who were presumed missing then later found dead, killed by their partners, rose.

Explaining the reality that gave birth to the hashtag, writer Rufaro Samanga said: "[Violence] is a reality to which many South African women have become accustomed in one form or the other. South Africa has the highest number of women who are murdered at the hands of their partners in the world."

Read the full article about sexual harassment in Africa by Eliza Anyangwe at Al Jazeera Media Network.