In the spirit of our SAAM 2022 campaign slogan "Together We Can Create Safe Online Spaces", our partner Guest Blog Series seeks to provide reflections on lived human experiences with online harms, realities, and communities. Recent research shows that women, people of color, individuals with disabilities and LGBTIQ+ folks are not only more likely to experience harassment, but that the content of the harassment is more severe. As such, this series seeks to uplift the voices of our partners and survivor communities to shed light on the pervasive problem of online harassment and the continuation of sexual violence issues in the virtual world and through the use of technologies. The goal of series is to educate online audiences about the various intersections between sexual violence, racism, ableism, mental health issues, and perpetration against underserved communities -- all of which are further exacerbated by online harassment. Our 2022 SAAM campaign also wishes to shed light on safe spaces and the work of community members in creating places free of harm and full of compassion online. To this end, we have invited community members to share about their work, their projects, and their insights on how we can create digital spaces celebrating inclusivity, healing, and harm reduction.
In Guest Blog 1, we will explore online sexual harassment through the use of emojis and phrases used by the queer community in a blog by christian scott.
In Guest Blog 2, we will explore the intersection of disability and gender with online harassment in a biographical blog by Dr. Erin Pritchard about online harassment against people with dwarfism as the community seeks to eradicate the a harmful slur which is routinely used in society.
In Guest Blog 3, Margaret Speer unpacks the harms of doxxing in a deep dive into power disbalances in queer relationships.
Guest Blog 4 explores the common occurrence of harassment within your friends list, as Megan Douglas of BeDo explores "Trauma in my pocket" and the emotions of unwanted comments and DMs after problematic academic experiences with research fieldwork.
In Guest Blog 5, we share our interview with Brendane Tynes of Zora’s Daughters, as she reflects on her work of curating a podcast with a Black feminist lens and the conundrum of creating safe online spaces.