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Cited by 195Stalking, Cyberstalking, and HarassmentGender, Feminism, and MediaSexual Assault and Victimization Studies

Online Abuse of Feminists as An Emerging form of Violence Against Women and Girls

Open access
Lewis, Ruth, Rowe, Michael, Wiper, Clare·2016·British Journal of Criminology
DOI 10.1093/bjc/azw073
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Abstract

Abuse directed at visible and audible women demonstrates that cyberspace, once heralded as a new, democratic, public sphere, suffers similar gender inequalities as the offline world. This paper reports findings from a national UK study about experiences of online abuse among women who debate feminist politics. It argues that online abuse is most usefully conceived as a form of abuse or violence against women and girls, rather than as a form of communication. It examines the experiences of those receiving online abuse, thereby making a valuable contribution to existing research which tends to focus on analysis of the communications themselves.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/bjc/azw073

Cites

36 of 36 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The normalisation of incel misogyny should not be considered in a vacuum but as a reflection of the upsurge in societal misogyny and harmful speech directed towards women, which goes beyond online men's communities.

    “The normalisation of incel misogyny should therefore not be considered in a vacuum but as a reflection of the upsurge in societal misogyny and harmful speech directed towards women (Chadha et al., 2020; Lewis et al., 2017), which goes beyond online men's communities.”

    From Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok (2023) · cites this paper as Lewis et al., 2017

    The Discussion (page not specified) describes online abuse as an extension of offline gendered realities and reports a backlash against women seeking a public voice. It also says online and offline violence against women are normalized in wider discourse. The paper does not establish an upsurge in societal misogyny or specifically examine incel communities, so those parts of the claim are not supported by this source. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The harms emerging from exposure to such content on mainstream media have a cumulative effect, potentially influencing not only young men's perceptions of women but also women's perceptions of themselves.

    “The harms emerging from exposure to such content on mainstream media have a cumulative effect, potentially influencing not only young men's perceptions of women but also women's perceptions of themselves (Lewis et al., 2017).”

    From Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok (2023) · cites this paper as Lewis et al., 2017

    The 'Impacts of online abuse' section (page unavailable) reports that the effects of frequent abusive encounters on women are cumulative. It does not establish that exposure to content in mainstream media shapes young men's perceptions of women or women's perceptions of themselves; the Introduction mentions mainstream media coverage, not those effects. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Instances of routine low-level misogynistic abuse play a significant role in the desensitisation to and normalisation of abuse and harmful speech directed at women.

    “Instances of routine low-level misogynistic abuse play a significant role in the desensitisation to and normalisation of abuse and harmful speech directed at women (Lewis et al., 2017).”

    From Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok (2023) · cites this paper as Lewis et al., 2017

    In ‘Impacts of online abuse’ (page unavailable), respondents describe getting used to routine abuse and treating even serious threats as normal, supporting the normalisation part of the claim. But the paper does not establish general desensitisation: its survey data indicate that more frequent abuse generally increased its impact. The Discussion (page unavailable) likewise says frequency exacerbates rather than dilutes harm. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The 'real' and the virtual are not separate experiential realms; there is a continuous flow of sexist and misogynistic beliefs adopted and further developed by the manosphere and incelosphere and returned to the mainstream via constant dissemination on social media.

    “The 'real' and the virtual are not separate experiential realms (Lewis et al., 2017); there is a continuous flow of sexist and misogynistic beliefs adopted and further developed by the manosphere and incelosphere and returned to the mainstream via constant dissemination on social media.”

    From Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok (2023) · cites this paper as Lewis et al., 2017

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Cites

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1 of the 37 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. --(2004), 'Computer-Mediated Communication and Woman's Place', in R. Bucholtz, ed., Language and Woman's Place: Text and Commentaries, 216-22. Oxford University Press.

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Authors
Lewis, R., Rowe, M., & Wiper, C.
Affiliations
Northumbria University (GB)
Corresponding author
Lewis, Ruth
ORCID
Venue
British Journal of Criminology
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2016-09-30
Pages
azw073
ISSN
  • 0007-0955 (ISSN-L)
  • 1464-3529
DOI
10.1093/bjc/azw073
OpenAlex
W2524768073
Cited by
195
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2
FWCI
23.82
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • The British Journal of Criminology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Leverhulme Trust
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
Keywords
online abuse, violence against women and girls, feminist activism, feminist politics, cyberspace, gender inequality, online harassment, feminist debates

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