Should Women Start Exposing Online Creeps?

Over the past decade, with the majority of people having a social media account, it's become common for women to receive unsolicited creepy messages from random men.

Cyber harassment against women has since been on the rise, and women are just told to ignore and block it. But then, the harassment seems to have escalated from social media sites to professional sites as well.

A LinkedIn user wrote about how she received a creepy DM from a man after 10 pm. Although it was just a "Heya," she noted that it wasn’t a normal message, and we all know that, right? She had hidden the name of the person who messaged her but mentioned in her post how shocking it was that these men had no fear of having their identities revealed and jeopardising their careers. 

Harassment On Professional Sites

A lot of women shared similar incidents in the comments and expressed how they could relate to the post. So, what gives men so much entitlement to harass women whenever and wherever they please?

Women, for ages, have always been told to ignore harassment, and the same rule applies to the harassment they face on social media. Seldom do women receive the encouragement to call out harassers because of the underlying fear of repercussions. What if calling out the harasser enrages them, and they try to attack you in real life or assassinate your character on social media?

But the reality is that these men who sit behind a keyboard and harass women, hiding behind the veil of anonymity that social media provides them, would often be spineless in real life. I doubt that the men who have the audacity to send creepy DMs to women on social media would dare to say "Hi" to a woman in person.

Women Need To Expose Harassers

Women need to speak out against such harassment because their silence is what gives these creeps the entitlement to continue harassing women. As long as women choose to ignore and block, these perverts will just jump from one woman’s profile to another and continue harassing them from multiple profiles. Women collectively need to start posting screenshots of creepy DMs along with the identities of the perverts who constantly bother them on social media. If those men want to gain attention, let them have it.

Also, women need to realise that it’s okay to raise a complaint even if they had accepted the follow request, if they had previously had a conversation with the person, or even if they had been in touch with the person for a while. When they realise that the person is exhibiting creepy behaviour that’s making them uncomfortable, they need to name and shame these creeps. If you’re wondering whether that’ll help stop cyber harassment, I cannot guarantee that.

How Will Speaking Up Help

However, the loud and clear statement that women will no longer be afraid of consequences or threats from harassers and will stand up against abuse will send a clear message to perpetrators and potential offenders that women will not silently tolerate harassment or abuse of any kind. Maybe that won't prevent harassment to a large extent, but it will surely make them think twice before harassing another woman in the future.

Filing a cyber complaint, reaping benefits from it, and witnessing adequate actions being taken against perpetrators might be a tedious process. However, women cannot simply keep letting men enjoy the male privilege of harassing women hiding behind social media accounts.

Collectively, when there are a lot of complaints filed in the cybercrime department’s inbox, it will push authorities to take action against perpetrators. If women don’t stand up for themselves, no one will. So, ladies, it’s time to turn the tables.

Suggested Reading: Stalking In DMs: Here's How To Identify Creeps In Your Dating Pool

Views expressed by the author are their own