PEN America LGBTQ+ Digital Safety Bootcamp – Session #2

Online Abuse Self-Defense Training

LGBTQ+ writers, journalists, creators, and activists are facing unprecedented levels of harassment online, from threats, hateful slurs, and sexual harassment to coordinated cyber mobs. Whether you’ve been targeted yourself or witnessed it, this session will equip you with practical self-defense tools and strategies. We’ll talk about how to prepare, respond, take care of yourself, and support others. While there are no easy answers, open conversations about the impact of online abuse and how to fight back can empower you to stay online and continue exercising your free expression rights.

Speakers

Viktorya Vilk (she/her/hers) is the program director for digital safety and free expression at PEN America, where she leads initiatives on a range of free expression issues, including developing tools and strategies to empower writers, journalists, and media organizations to defend against online abuse. She has over a decade of experience working in nonprofits to expand access to the arts and defend creative and press freedom.

Gisela Pérez de Acha (she/her/hers) is a journalist focused on digital forensics and investigative reporting, with over a decade of experience combating online gender-based violence. She has a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where she now teaches cybersecurity, and is a reporter on the extremism beat at the Investigative Reporting Program. She is a trained human rights lawyer and an open source researcher at the Human Rights Center Investigations Lab.

 

About the PEN America Fall Bootcamp on LGBTQ+ Digital Safety

Online abuse can threaten livelihoods, damage mental health, lead to self-censorship, and even migrate offline. Members of the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately targeted. According to a 2021 ADL/YouGov study, 64 percent of LGBTQ+ people experience online hate and harassment. From hateful slurs and sexual harassment to impersonation, account hacking, and doxing, abusive tactics are intended to intimidate, discredit, and silence. LGBTQ+ writers, journalists, creators, and activists—whose work increasingly requires an online presence—face a double bind.

But there are steps we can all take to protect ourselves and one another from online abuse. Join PEN America, GLAAD, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, and the Trans Journalists Association (TJA) for a free webinar series offering a crash course on digital safety and online abuse defense. Hear from folks on the front line, and exchange strategies for how to stay safe and fight back.