Online misogyny is becoming a defining feature of digital life, amplified by algorithms and enabled by platforms that fail to protect users. As violence against women intensifies across online spaces, the stakes for gender equality and for democracy itself have never been higher.

Violence online is surging at a moment when digital spaces should be becoming more inclusive. Algorithms reward outrage, platform design obscures abuse, and hostile online communities allow those who target women to organise and radicalise. As a result, violence that begins online increasingly spills into public life.

But the consequences go far beyond individual harm. Abuse aimed at women in politics is already deterring them from seeking re-election, while global progress on gender equality is slowing. With governments struggling to regulate fast-moving platforms and profit incentives working against user safety, digital spaces are becoming sites where exclusion is reproduced at scale.

With the stakes rising, the questions are pressing. What is driving this rapid escalation in online misogyny? How are design choices and political inaction enabling it? And what would it take to turn digital spaces into environments that strengthen equality rather than deepen exclusion?

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Sasha Havlicek, CEO & Founder, Institute for strategic dialogue 
• Seyi Akiwowo, Author, How To Stay Safe Online and Founder 21/20 Studios
• Diana Jiménez Rodriguez, Senior Research Officer, ODI Global 

Related resources

• Hidden in plain sight: how the infrastructure of social media shapes gender norms | ALIGN Platform
• Digital sexual violence against women in Mexico: role of the Olimpia Law in transforming underlying gender norms | ALIGN Platform
• Social media, violence and gender norms: the need for a new digital social contract | ALIGN Platform
• Drivers of tech-facilitated GBV in Mexico: A behavioural research study in Oaxaca and Estado of México | ALIGN Platform
• Why online safety policies and digital advocacy are essential for women’s political participation | ALIGN Platform
• Break the bias to challenge gender norms on social media | ODI Global