When Does Voicing Your Opinions Go Too Far?

Workplace sexual harassment is not a new concept. Women have been at the butt of sexual jokes and unwanted advancements in virtually every field. While protection and prevention laws and policies have been enacted to help avoid sexual harassment, it unfortunately is still a rampant issue.

Recently, I've noticed a new disturbing trend arising with victims coming forward about their experiences. The internet has bred a new form of harassment where people can anonymously blast or berate the victim for accusing the offender or taking action against their offender.

Take for example the story of Adria Richards. Richards publicly posted a photo of two men who made crude sexual jokes about her at a conference. One of the men she accused was fired from his job. As soon as the entire story went viral, Richards began receiving hateful messages, as well death and rape threats from people who were upset with her. The company she worked for ended up firing her instead of having her back. Regardless of whether or not you may agree with her actions of posting their information on the internet, Richards has been unfairly ostracized by the internet for the actions of unprofessional and rude men. The internet has created a forum in which people can berate individuals and threaten their lives without having to reveal their identities. Unfortunately, Richard’s experience is not an isolated one.

In January of 2014, Vancouver based makeup artist Samantha Ravndahl publicly came out with her intentions to sue female rapper Lil’ Kim for using her images without her explicit consent or any compensation. While many in the community supported Samantha for standing up for her work, many of Lil’ Kim’s fans went on the attack. She received hurtful comments and rape threats.

When did it become acceptable to go on a hateful campaign against anyone, but particularly women who are just standing up for themselves? The internet has become a double-edged sword, great for providing information quickly and efficiently but unfortunately allowing trolls to disrespect and insult victims of abuse, crime, or unwanted advancements. There will always be people who disagree with the victim but when did it become ok to attack people so severely? Regardless of your personal views on the situation, proper discourse is more than enough to relate your point of view. There is no need to lower to unacceptable threats against a person’s life. As adults have told us since childhood, if you have nothing nice to say, better to say nothing at all. Internet trolls should take note instead of looking like petty and ignorant children.