SABRA LANE, PRESENTER: Social media has opened up whole new frontiers of communication, but it has a dark side. A world of haters and abusers often targeting women with threats and insults. Writer and commentator Clementine Ford has been bombarded with abuse online after she called out one of the haters. His company subsequently sacked him. Today a Twitter campaign was launched to support all women exposed to attacks on social media and it went off.

Tracy Bowden has the story, and a warning, her report contains language some viewers might find offensive.

Let me start with Clem Ford who has had a little bit to say in the past about trolling.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) .

CLEMINTINE FORD, WRITER: Which third of this audience has experienced sexual assault or rape.

This is harassment that all of us experience and it's not OK

It's not that the Internet has created misogyny.

They know we live in an Internet where women feel scared to speak out about these things.

TRACY BOWDEN, REPORTER: Clementine Ford speaks her mind and she is often provocative

YOUTUBER: What we are looking at right now is essentially the face of modern evil. You are looking at the face of a totalitarian psychopath. This right here is a beast of a creature.

TRACY BOWDEN: The writer and commentator's views have made her the subject of constant online abuse.

CLEMINTINE FORD: The first time someone calls you a fat ugly (bleep) it really does hurt, it stings and you think, "What have I done to deserve this?"

TRACEY SPICER, JOURNALIST: She has had death threats, she's had threats of rape, the things that have been said to that woman, she has almost become a lightning rod for men's anger against the rising tide of feminism.

TRACY BOWDEN: Last week after being called a slut yet again, Clementine Ford called one of her attackers to account.

TRACEY SPICER: She decided that enough was enough and because this man who was trolling her had a link to his company FaceBook page, she simply tagged his company, Meriton and said, "Are you aware of what your employee is writing?" And they took very responsible action which was to terminate this man's employment.

TRACY BOWDEN: It was a controversial outcome.

JUDITH SLOAN, ECONOMIST: She said some extraordinarily hateful things herself. So it seems to me it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black here. I mean, I think to call for someone's sacking is just extraordinary, you know, just toughen up, princess.

TRACY BOWDEN: Online, there was much worse directed at Clementine Ford .

KERRI SACKVILLE, WRITER: This is just the list of names that have been directly taken from Clem's post. So these are the list of people who sent her abusive messages. And what we are going to do is go through the list, each of us, and tweet out their names with the hashtag "end violence against women" and the link to the post.

When you see somebody like Clementine Ford has recently receiving such hateful messages, such violent messages, such threatening messages, you realise it's not about her, it's not about any one particular writer, journalist, woman online, it is about all of us.

We need a link.

TRACY BOWDEN: Clementine Ford is overseas but her experience prompted Kerri Sackville to launch a Twitter campaign exposing the trolls.

KERRI SACKVILLE: They are so brazen about it. They use their real names, they don't bother hiding behind a fake profile That's how much they know that there is no consequence and no retribution and I thought it's time to stand up and take a stand against it and for all of us to support her and to support each other .

TRACY BOWDEN: The "end violence against women" Twitter hashtag went viral today.

TRACEY SPICER: By naming these people, it might make someone else think twice before putting that kind of vile stuff online People need to be held to account and if our organisations in society and our institutions aren't going to do that, then we as women have to take collective action.

I hope your children are raped and killed you silly c**t.

TRACY BOWDEN: Journalist Tracy Spicer is one of a group of high-profile women who declared war on the trolls early this year by reading the abusive tweets directed at them.

TRACEY SPICER: Reading these comments makes me feel physically ill and frightened. You know I'll go and check that the front door is locked, I will feel like people are coming to get me, to get me, to kill my children, it is absolutely terrifying.

She wants men dead, ban her from social media...

PALOMA BRIERLEY NEWTON, SEXUAL VIOLENCE WON'T BE SILENCED: I think it is amazing to see a huge community of women standing up to these online abusers and basically sayings "You are no longer going to get away with this."

TRACY BOWDEN: These women also decided to stand up to an online abuser.

PALOMA BRIERLEY NEWTON: A friend of our tinder profile was shared on Facebook shaming her for her sexuality basically. We jumped in and told them that slut shaming is not on and from there it became very abusive and very aggressive to all members of the group. It was- there was a barrage, I would rape your mother if I saw her but I wouldn't rape an "ug" that was me.

TRACY BOWDEN: They reported the online abuse to police. A man was charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass and cause offence and the case is back in court next week.

PALOMA BRIERLEY NEWTON: There is literally thousands of them because every time someone like Clementine or someone like us stands up against them, it is like we're inviting more of them to come and attack us.

KERRI SACKVILLE: There are a lot of women out there and men, too, who want to do something, who want to take a stand and feel helpless and there's nothing they can do, so at least this is giving all of us a voice.

SABRA LANE: Tracy Bowden with that report.