Society’s Whole Attitude to Women Journalists Needs ‘Reprogramming’

So, the system works and there is no need to add any other legal tool.

On the other hand, we have a load of problems when it comes to both male and female journalists: they are attacked and threatened on the web on a daily basis.

The situation for female colleagues is more specific, as the threats and insults they receive often focus on their appearance, marital status, whether they have kids or not, and so on - details that are never included in attacks on male journalists.

When it comes to commenting on their work, male journalists "only" get threats that they could get killed or beaten. We are warned also to expect rape and torture.

We are told that we are whores, that we can "take a ride" on someone's penis, that we are "dirty lesbians" and "should lose some weight". If we have kids, we are told that they are "bastards"; they measure the size of our breasts, the number of our partners, etc.

Lately, it's got even deeper than that: a colleague who has publicly admitted that she had been depressed and had considered suicide was invited online to "finally kill herself".  That does not happen to male journalists.

Of course, this affects you and your work - even more than "face-to-face" insults or aggressive media campaigns against journalists, which are also very frequent.

Here, the offender is "unknown": it is a voice from the "dark"; you don't know where that person is, or what he/she wants. You don't know what comes next. And, of course, it hits you personally. Whatever your self-confidence, the notion that you are being measured, judged and insulted is devastating. Not to mention situations when someone also publishes your home address, or claims that you are "loaded with money".

So, what is the cure? What needs...