at last

At last, some sensible, open discussions about internet abuse are taking place. After years of deafening silence on the subject in public (as opposed to the internet which has been awash with self-righteous claims to freedom of speech from the abusers for years), the floodgates have opened in the last week. It started in The Guardian and New Statesman with the question of misogyny , but has widened to include general abuse of women on the internet. Eventually, I would hope that it broadens into a full discussion about any internet abuse directed by, and at, both men and women .

I've just listened to the subject being tackled on Woman's Hour (available on the iPlayer very soon). (Ironic that the WH's forum was shut down a couple of years ago precisely because of the widespread abuse it generated - but they didn't mention that on the programme, which was an opportunity missed.) It did what WH does best, and presented the issue calmly and intelligently, giving courage  to anyone who has been the target of online abuse, and encouraging them to get rid of the trolls. They also made the chilling point that the people who leave appalling comments are often ordinary people - not all psychopaths - living ordinary lives. I know this to be true, because I've had it happen to me.

So, at last, we are no longer in denial about the abuse and the effects it can have. About time, too.