Want to empower women? Call out hate speech

This is my mantra: "I'm a brave woman; I can do it all." Yet still, I'm a little hesitant when it comes to using the internet. I can't count how many times I was attacked online, be it for my work, for my moral stances or even for just my presence.

Vitriolic messages and comments — with sexual connotations — have been used to intimidate me, including threats to beat me up or rape me. I tried to report it and talk openly about it online, but I was shamed for it and silenced. 

So I retreated and went offline to protect myself, as well as my time and energy chasing after these attackers. But this also resulted in my withdrawal and fear from the internet world.

When I spoke about it with other women, I realized I wasn't alone: Cyber violence, in various forms, had affected almost all the women I know. And even when the hate stops, long-lasting emotional effects often remain. 

Annalena Baerbock, Germany's first female foreign minister, was a target of sexist hate speech when she was a chancellor candidate last year. A strong woman, former Chancellor Angela Merkel, was also subjected to hate speech online. Green Party co-leader Ricarda Lang was body-shamed and threatened online with rape.

Endless examples can be found all over Europe, from journalists to artists and other women who are simply active online. And it's not a "first-world problem," it's a global phenomenon that is alarming: those who commit such acts are targeting women's existence in the public sphere. It is part of sidelining women from daily discourse — a discourse that is led primarily by men.

Hate speech vs. freedom of speech

Germany has some of the world's toughest data privacy laws — and, oftentimes, this allows trolls to go unchecked. Online aggressors remain anonymous to escape accountability and to feel protected from legal ramifications for their attacks.

This was reinforced when Germany's top court overturned an anti-hate speech law that, if it was evident that an alleged crime was committed, allowed user data of major social media platforms to be passed on to the police for an investigation.

Now we need to prevent such a setback from spiraling. Online platforms need to use their technology to develop tools that better prevent hate speech. Lawmakers and law enforcement need to treat cases with sensitivity, as well as impose — and enforce — criminal punishments that deter such behavior.

I believe that hate speech cannot be protected under the guise of freedom of speech. I believe that hate speech is a weapon used to target society's most vulnerable. And if it is tolerated, it empowers those who want to hurt others — and carry on unchallenged. We as a society need to take a stand against hate speech: both men and women, law enforcement and social media platforms. 

I'm a strong woman, but I cannot — nor can any other woman — do it all alone. No woman should.