Harassing women online has always existed. However, it has gotten significantly worse in the past few months.
[PAX East] Exposing The Harassment Female Gamers Receive Online
According to the Huffington Post, someone with the username “headlessfemalepig” was tweeting many women journalists on twitter. Though the twitter account was deleted ASAP, many journalists noted the tweets. Some tweets were as followed:
“I am 36 years old, I did 12 years for ‘manslaughter’, I killed a woman… Happy to say we live in the same state. I’m looking you up, and when I find you, I’m going to rape you and remove your head.”
“You are going to die and I am the one who is going to kill you. I promise you this.”
http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/women-arent-welcome-internet-72170/
Many women journalists have been scared away from posting their views online because of people like “headlessfemalepig.” Some people don’t realize how big of a problem this really is and why we should address it and give it more attention.
According to the Pew Center, threats are directed far more at women than at men. Many men still have the mindset of hundreds of years ago when it was mainly men who spoke up about their opinions. So now those people are targeting women journalists for spreading what is on their minds online.
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