Faced online speech that made you uncomfortable as a woman? Share your experience with us

by Shehla Shora

The Internet Democracy project is presently conducting a research project that looks at how women in India who are active users of social media and the Internet deal with speech addressed to them that makes them feel uncomfortable as women. Such speech could range from isolated comments that are simply annoying to outright abuse of various kinds on online platforms. Due to the popularity of these platforms, we are particularly interested in the experiences of women who are active on Twitter, Facebook or as bloggers.

While references to speech that targets women specifically are increasingly common in the media, there is very little detailed information available on what is going on exactly or on how women respond (or not) to such speech. This study aims to make a beginning to filling that gap.

Are you a woman in India with an active blogging or social media profile and would you be willing to share your experiences? If so, please write to us with your answers to the following questions:

· Can you share with us one or more instances in which you were faced with speech which was addressed to you and which made you feel uncomfortable as a woman?

· How did you respond to the situation?

· What kind of additional support, if any, would you have liked to be available to you in this particular situation?

If there are any additional comments you would like to make, you are of course welcome to add those as well.

Your email will be used as research data for the project. Where appropriate, emails may be quoted at length or in their entirety. However, unless you explicitly request us to be identified, we will make sure that your identity will remain anonymous in all outcomes of the research.

Though we will not be able to speak to everybody, we might also want to follow up with some of you in a personal interview. If you are happy to be interviewed for the research, please indicate so in your email as well.

If you are interested in participating, please write to us at research@internetdemocracy.in by 15th December, 2012.