1. The Prevalence of Online Abuse

Social media can be a toxic and frightening place for women. Amnesty’s previous research on this issue shows how women parliamentarians in the UK, especially those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, experience targeted abuse online. However, it’s important to stress that online abuse affects women from all walks of life.

Amnesty’s poll found that 64% of the women surveyed believe ‘online abuse or harassment of women is common nowadays’. This indicates that women’s experiences of online abuse are not isolated incidents but in fact are part of a wider trend of both online and offline discrimination against women.

23% of the women polled said they experienced abuse or harassment online. In the USA, New Zealand and Sweden, almost 1 in 3 women stated they had experienced online abuse or harassment.

In the US, New Zealand (both 88%), UK (90%), Italy and Spain (both 89%), almost 90% of women agree that online abuse is harmful to women. These responses show that for so many women around the world, the internet is simply not a safe space.

Behind every number in this poll is a story. Although the statistics are shocking, I also wanted to hear more about the types of abuse women receive and how it makes them feel. So, I interviewed women about their experiences of online abuse, including some women with a big public profile. As I poured over the dozens of excel worksheets of the poll’s findings, my interview with Pamela Merritt, an American sexual and reproductive rights activist and blogger stuck out.

Pamela told me about the different types of violence and abuse she has faced online:

“As a blogger, I’ve faced it all. I’ve had death threats, people posting racist, sexist or homophobic comments, and a lot of push back that is anti-abortion but in a hostile and violent way, like, ‘you support abortion so you deserve to die’.

She also described the response she received when she wrote a series of blog posts about police killings of black people. She recalled, “I got tweets and comments saying I am an ugly fat black bitch and that I deserve to die or ‘you wouldn’t be upset with the cops if some giant n*gger rapes you’.”

Pamela’s experience of receiving physical or sexually violent threats is not unique. Of the women polled who stated they had experienced abuse or harassment online, 1/4 (26%) had received threats of physical or sexual assault. Almost half (46%) of the women who experienced abuse or harassment said it was sexist or misogynistic in nature.

Privacy violations such as ‘doxxing’ and sharing sexual and private images of a woman without her consent were also forms of abuse or harassment experienced by women. 1 in 6 (17%) of the women surveyed across all 8 countries who had experienced abuse or harassment said that their personal details had been posted online, with 8% saying that intimate images had been posted without consent.

Additionally, almost 1 in 3 (29%) of women in the US who experienced abuse or harassment online said their personal details had been posted online.

Earlier this year I also spoke to Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project. Like Pamela Merritt, Laura has built a public platform speaking out against daily sexism and misogyny experienced by women and uses the internet to advocate for women’s rights. We had a long phone conversation where she spoke candidly about the various forms of online violence and abuse she faced, the different platforms where it had taken place, and the changes she has made to her everyday interactions as a result.

After our conversation, I returned to my desk feeling shaken. It was not the last time during the course of this research that I found myself overwhelmed by what I was hearing. It was clear to me after that phone call that the true toll of online abuse is incredibly underestimated.

Laura explained how her experience of online abuse has evolved over the years.

“Online abuse began for me when I started the Everyday Sexism Project — before it had become particularly high-profile or I received many entries. Even at that stage, it was attracting around 200 abusive messages per day. The abuse then diversified into other forums, such as Facebook and Twitter messages. These often spike if I’ve been in the media.”