More than two years after the first accusation for sexual assault and harassment in 2017, Harvey Weinstein, once considered one of Hollywood's most influential figures, finally became a convicted rapist.

He was convicted of sexual assault and rape on Monday, facing up to 29 years in prison, though he was acquitted of the most serious charge of predatory sexual assault.

Nearly 90 women have come forward and spoke out about Weinstein's behavior. The accusations, first made in The New York Times and New Yorker in October 2017, sparked a sexual harassment watershed that ended the careers of several powerful men as tens of thousands of women shared their stories of abuse online under the #MeToo hashtag.

Hollywood celebrities also founded Times Up, an organization dedicated to fighting sexual harassment and abuse across all industries.

Now, with the dust settled, many women, activists and attorneys took to social media or spoke through statements, giving their reactions. 

"Today is a powerful day & a huge step forward in our collective healing," tweeted actress Rose McGowan, who has accused Weinstein of raping her. "I'm proud of the brave women who testified, they have taken out a monster on earth."

Actress Ashley Judd, one of the first Weinstein accusers to go public with her allegations, thanked the six women who told the high-profile trial that the ex-Hollywood titan had sexually assaulted them.

"For the women who testified in this case, and walked through traumatic hell, you did a public service to girls and women everywhere, thank you," Judd tweeted. 

Italian actress and director Asia Argento, who told the New Yorker magazine that Weinstein raped her in 1997, posted a photo of herself and another woman on Instagram.

"Harvey Weinstein is now a convicted rapist. Two survivors cry and celebrate. Thank you God," she wrote alongside it.

Gloria Allred, attorney for Sciorra and Haleyi, told reporters outside court that, "it's no longer business as usual in the United States."

"This is the age of empowerment of women, and you cannot intimidate them anymore, because women will not be silenced," she said.

"They will speak up, they will have their voice, they will stand up and be subjected to your small army of defense attorneys cross-examining them, attempting to discredit them," Allred added.

"Today's outcome in Harvey Weinstein's New York trial is the result of the decisions of multiple women to come forward to journalists and to prosecutors at great personal cost and risk. Please keep those women in your thoughts today," New Yorker journalist Ronan Farrow, who broke stories about allegations against Weinstein, wrote on Twitter.

Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, said in a statement: "The implications reverberate far beyond Hollywood and into the daily lives of all of us in the rest of the world."

"While it is disappointing that today's outcome does not deliver the true, full justice that so many women deserve, Harvey Weinstein will now forever be known as a convicted serial predator," the Silence Breakers, a group of Weinstein accusers, said in a statement.

"This has been a flawed process from the beginning but has further exposed the difficulties women face in coming forward to tell the truth about powerful abusers," the statement added.

"This trial – and the jury's decision today – marks a new era of justice, not just for the Silence Breakers, who spoke out at great personal risk, but for all survivors of harassment, abuse, and assault at work," Time's Up president and CEO Tina Tchen said in a statement.

"The jury's verdict sends a powerful message to the world of just how much progress has been made since the Weinstein Silence Breakers ignited an unstoppable movement," Tchen added. "While we celebrate this historic moment, our fight to fix the broken system that has allowed serial abusers like Harvey Weinstein to abuse women in the first place continues. Abusers everywhere and the powerful forces that protect them should be on notice: There's no going back," she said.

Cover image: Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., departs state supreme court in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. /VCG

With inputs from AFP, Reuters