Gendered Online Abuse Against Women in Public Life: More Than Just Words

This book pulls back the curtain to reveal the scale of abuse that women in public life now receive. It’s a timely and important read into what is driving this horrifying trend and how we can tackle it.

This remarkable book is essential reading for anyone thinking about the barriers to women entering or remaining in public life. The relentless nature of online abuse, as well as its effects on everyone involved, is depressing reading, but Dr Watson’s concise analysis makes a significant contribution to our understanding and points towards possible solutions. A really valuable and insightful contribution to one of the most challenging problems so many women face in public life in the twenty-first century.

With her unparalleled expertise, a wealth of original empirical material, and rich theoretical awareness, Susan Watson offers a unique insight into this most pressing and growing of contemporary problems. Gendered Online Abuse Against Women in Public Life: More Than Just Words is set to have a big impact – among policy-makers, practitioners, teachers, students and informed readers. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Timely and important, this book provides firm evidence of the nature, extent, and harms of online abuse directed against women in public life. By focusing on how such abuse impacts not just the safety of women in public life but their freedom, Watson reveals its full consequences and charts a course for us to combat it - individually, socially, and structurally.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online. The first of its kind, Gendered Online Abuse Against Women in Public Life focuses on digital abuse encountered across the public sphere, bringing together both theoretical ideas and policy recommendations.

• | Author: Susan Watson
• | Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• | Publication Date: Nov 10, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781835497272
• | ISBN-10: 1835497276