Alyssa Milano starts #MeToo for victims of sexual assault to share their story

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Alyssa Milano started #MeToo on Twitter Sunday for victims of sexual assault to break their silence and share their story in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein controversy.

"If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet," the actress known for starring on Melrose Place, Charmed and for hosting Project Runway All Stars wrote alongside a statement.

"Me too. Suggested by a friend. 'If all the woman who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote Me too as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem,'" the statement read.

Milano notably co-starred alongside actress Rose McGowan on Charmed whom is among the several woman named in a New York Times report that first reported on Weinstein's behavior. Since then, a number of women in Hollywood have come forward saying that the producer sexually assaulted them.

Milano is friends with Weinstein's wife Georgina Chapman who announced she was leaving the film mogul after 10 years of marriage.

The "me too" hashtag began gaining steam on social media where women and men shared their stores and experiences of being sexually assaulted. On Twitter, more than 200,000 tweets were sent out using the phrase while nearly 80,000 people were talking about the movement on Facebook by Monday, The Washington Post reported.

A number of celebrities including Anna Paquin and Debra Messing also tweeted out "Me too" in response to help spread the movement.

The Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences voted to expel Harvey Weinstein on Saturday due to the mounting sexual assault allegations.