Have you ever hesitated before posting an opinion, a photo, an article, for fear of what would follow in the comments? If the answer is yes, it is not paranoia, it is the result of a system. Women are the main targets of online violence, and it is no accident, it is a strategy: they don’t criticise the idea, they criticise the body; they don’t argue, they insult; they don’t debate, they disqualify.
The aim of technology-facilitated gender-based violence is simple: to constantly push women back into their place in order to exclude them from the digital public space. This is called the “silencing effect”. These are not debates of opinion, they are tactics of exclusion, a deliberate modern form of censorship that tries to recreate online the sexist barriers already fought against in real life.
So what can you do? First understand that it is not personal, it is political. Identifying the violence and naming it is already refusing to normalise it. Don’t stay alone, because the harasser’s aim is to isolate, and solidarity is a collective response to collective violence. Take up space, because your voice has value: the digital world is yours too, a right and not a privilege to be earned.
