There’s seemingly no escape from gender-based violence; it has transcended the real world to find women online and through the use of technology. Up to 58% of women and girls have experienced violence online, underscoring the importance of fighting cybersexism. The UN notes that while gender-based violence (GBV) is not new, the growth of internet and digital platforms has created new types of GBV and exposed women and girls to unprecedented threats. The COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns marked a turning point in the prevalence of cyberviolence.

Shanley Clemot McLaren is a young feminist and activist fighting cybersexism from France. McLaren, herself, experienced cyberviolence and harassment following her battle against the rise of online GBV. She created the #StopFisha organisation to defend women and girls by combating technology-facilitated GBV. In her own words, the 2024 Young Activist Summit laureate shares the challenges of dealing with online violence.

My name is Shanley Clemot McLaren. I have been a feminist activist fighting cybersexism since I was 17. That’s when I organized a blockade of my high school to protest gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual harassment within the school.

This blockade took place during the rise of the #MeToo movement in the late 2010s, at a time when the issue was gaining significant public attention and women were coming forward with their testimonies. However, not all women were represented in the public debate — minorities and young girls, in particular, were often left out. For both of these reasons, I conceived this feminist blockade, using chains, bins, and any materials we could find to block entry and exit points to the school. This form of protest is common in France. It's one of the main forms of activism for young people studying in high schools and universities. The press later referred to me as a “whistleblower.”

A few years later, in 2020, I raised the alarm on social media about the surge in online gendered violence, launching the hashtag #StopFisha — “fisha” being French slang for “afficher," meaning to display or make public. I subsequently founded #StopFisha — a digital, social movement that became a civil society organization.

Read the full article about fighting cybersexism by Shanley McLaren at Global Citizen.