Sticks and stones may break may bones...

The childhood rhyme "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can really hurt me" takes on a modern twist in our digital age. With the internet at our fingertips, we are all vulnerable to online bullying and trolling, where words are used as weapons. While social media serves as a platform for most of us to connect with others, inspire and build businesses from creative talent, a minority group of people use these platforms for harmful purposes. These internet trolls aim to slander businesses and hurt social media users with the hope of destroying the success of others.

After experiencing some success in Capture Magazine's Australian Emerging Photographers Awards, I became the target of harassment, abuse and misogyny from faceless keyboard warriors. It's clear that in this day and age, bullies have far too much access to their victims. Sadly, many suffer in silence, but how can we change this culture? Should it be women who speak up or should men do more and take action when they witness such behavior?

To shed light on this issue, I took to Instagram to share some of the messages I received after my awards success. My post was titled "It's not okay," and it highlighted a broad perspective of harassment and misogyny from male photographers.

The response was overwhelming - my post garnered over 2,500 likes and 700 comments from people offering support, allyship, honesty and sharing their own experiences of mistreatment.

It's both disgusting and saddening to think that professional female photographers are subjected to harassment, belittlement, sexually explicit content and inappropriate treatment while simply trying to work. We must continue to raise awareness around this issue so that we can create a safer digital space for everyone.

EXCERT:

In todays episode we talk to Danielle Watson about her recent experience after winning some awards for her photography including online bullying, trolling and sexual harassment. Steph and Sarina take this matter incredibly seriously and are appalled by the stories that have followed since Dani went public. Thank you Dani for your open and honest discussion.


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Taken from: https://www.infocuswomen.com/podcast/episode/7b329eaa/season-2-episode-12-gender-bias-and-discrimination-with-danielle-watson