Online Harassment of Women Journalists Must End

This study found that:                  As a result of online violence, 30% of respondents reported self-censoring themselves online and 26% reported wanting to quit social media and journalism altogether.Online violence that targets women has significant physical and psychological impacts. Astudy by Amnesty International found that across all countries surveyed, 55% of women who were targets of online violence experienced anxiety, panic attacks, or stress. This study also found that online misogyny contributed to difficulty sleeping and concentrating among victims of online harassment. So not only does this harassment affect global health reporting, it affects the health and well-being of the global health reporters themselves.Why is this happening?Online hate, often rooted in misogyny, is intertwined with disinformation campaigns that discredit women journalists and their work. Misogyny is defined as the aversion to, hatred of, or prejudice against women. For example,Liz Essley Whyte investigated and reported on the conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations. She then received emails, social media posts, and voicemails with abusive language. The goal of these perpetrators is to silence women and force them out of online spaces.Since 20% of women journalists who experience online violence respond to this abuse by withdrawing from all online intera...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news