ABSTRACT
Online anti-feminism and misogyny are on the rise. Statistics in recent years show a steady increase in the number of women reporting experiences of sexual and gender-based abuse and harassment online. In addition, there has been a concerning increase in the incidence of sexual and gender-based harassment in schools and among youth, in the UK, Ireland and beyond. In tandem with these developments, male supremacist groups appear to be growing in terms both of numbers and of the reach or amplification of their ideas. However, there is little if any academic work which considers the links between these phenomena, in particular the ways in which the manosphere and its anti-woman ideologies are reaching out to boys and young men, and impacting young people's gendered and sexual dynamics. This chapter considers the various digitally-enhanced tactics used by online men's rights formations, both to intimidate and silence women and girls as well as to radicalise and recruit boys and men. I argue that digital abuse has become instrumental to the dynamics of male violence against women – both personal and political – and underline the urgency for legal, educational and platform-governance interventions.
