Online Abuse Now Commonplace for Balkan Women Reporters

The Balkan region is no exception, and while Vojtehovski received a measure of justice, others say they see little point in complaining to employers or the police given what critics say is a systematic failure to punish the perpetrators, according to the findings of a BIRN analysis.

"What struck me the most was how people looked away, letting it happen," said Milena Perovic Korac, a journalist at the Montenegrin weekly magazine Monitor, who has been the target of such abuse since 2011. "There was no reaction, and right then that was the most terrifying thing."

Global trend

In a 2018 survey by the Washington-based International Women's Media Foundation, IWMF, nearly two thirds of women journalists who responded said they had been threatened or harassed online at least once.

Also in 2018, the International Federation of Journalists, IFJ, reported that 66 per cent of women journalists who were victims of online harassment had been attacked based on their gender.

And for the assailants, access has never been easier.

Social media has become an indispensible tool for journalists, but simultaneously exposes them to instant praise and persecution, 24 hours a day.

According to the IWMF survey, 90 per cent of respondents reported a rise in online threats over the past five years and 82 per cent said digital attacks had increased too, "including such activities as having social accounts hacked or data stolen or compromised."

Opinions We Must Unite to Stop Them Insulting Us Society's Whole Attitude to Women Journalists Needs 'Reprogramming' I've had Enough of Haters on Twitter

Online abuse of women journalists target not only their work but their gender, frequently referencing their...