英语演讲稿Speech on CyberWord下载.docx

英语演讲稿Speech on CyberWord下载.docx

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女性演讲特辑之七：

网络骚扰受害女性站出来为女性权利发声

SpeechonCyber-HarassmentattheWomen’sAidConference

ByCarolineCriado-Perez

“Ifthere’sonethingIwanttocomeoutofwhathappenedtome,it’sforthephrase“don’tfeedthetrolls”tobescrubbedfromtheannalsofreceivedwisdom.”

BeforeIbegin,Ijustwanttowarnyouall,thatIwillbequotingsomeofthemessagesIhavereceived.Theyincludeoffensivelanguageandreferencestosexualviolence,whichmaybetriggeringforsome.

SoI’dliketostartoffbygivingyouabitofbackgroundintowhatleduptotheharassmentIreceivedforovertwoweeksinJulyandAugust,becauseIthinkit’simportanttoseehowlittleittakestoprovokethiskindofabuse—it’simportanttofaceuptohowmuchofaproblemwestillhavewithwidespreadmisogynyagainstanywomanwhodarestousehervoiceinpublic.

SosomeofyoumayhaveheardofacampaignIranfromApriltoJulythisyear,askingtheBankofEnglandtoreviewitsdecisiontohaveanall-maleline-uponbanknotes.（Notetomedia,Ireallydidn’tcampaignforJaneAusten’sfaceonabanknote,pleasestopsayingIdid,thankyou!

）Thecampaignreceivedquitealotofmediaattention,andIspentmuchofmytimerehearsingargumentsaboutthedamageapublicculturesaturatedwithwhitemalefacesdoestotheaspirationsandachievementsofwomenandyounggirls.

Asaresultofthismediaattention,throughoutthecampaignIhadbeenonthereceivingendofyourgardenvarietysexistcommunications.Thesortthatcallyouabitch,acunt,thattellyoutogetbacktothekitchen.Thesortthattellyoutoshutup,stopwhining,stopmoaning—togetalife.Thesortthattellyoutodealwiththemoreimportantthingsbecause,afterall,theQueen’sonallthenotesanywayisn’tshe.Onlyyouprobablywouldn’trealisethatbecauseyou’reawomanandwomenarestupid.

Thesecommunicationshurtandirritatedinequalmeasure.Theydidn’thurtbecausetheywereovertlyabusive:

theyhurtbecauseitwasareminderofhowfarwomenhadtogobeforeweweretreatedequally—butontheotherhand,theywereareminderofhowimportantthecampaignwas.Iwasfightingfortherepresentationofwomen,becauseIfirmlybelievedthatthepaucityofwomeninpubliclifeentrenchedsexistattitudestowardsus—andherewasmyproof.

ButthenIgotaletter,senttomymum’shouse.Andthiswasmyfirsttasteofhowfarsomemenwillgotointimidatewomentheydisapproveof.Womenwhostandup,speakoutandsay“No,thisiswrong,andI’mnothavingit.”Theletterwasnotinitselfthreatening,butitleftmeshaken—asitwasintendedto.Thecontentsoftheletterwereimmaterialinmanyways—theyweremerelyaconduitforamantotellme,awomanhedisliked,thatheknewwereIlived.Thathe’dgonetothetroubleofseekingoutmyaddressonline.Thathecouldcomeroundanytimehewanted.

Ontheadviceofsomefriends,Icalledthepolice.Theysaidtherewasnothingtheycoulddo.So,Itriedtoforgettheletter,andIhopedIwouldn’thearfromhimagain.

Notlongafterthis,Iwascelebratingacampaignvictory.Inundatedwithcongratulatorymessages,myphonedidn’tstopbuzzingallday,astheBankofEnglandannouncedthattheyacceptedthatanall-malelineuponbanknoteswasadamagingmessagetobesendingout,andthat,asaresult,theywerebringingforwardtheintroductionofthe£

10note,whichwouldhaveJaneAusten’sfaceonit.Theyalsoannounced,andthiswasthebestbitasfarasIwasconcerned,thattheywouldbeinstigatingareviewofhowtheyselectedhistoricalfiguresonbanknotes,withaviewtomakingsurethatthediversityofsocietywasrepresentedonthem,andmakingsurethattheywereproperlycomplyingwiththePublicSectorEqualityDuty.Thatwasit.Avictory,butinthegrandschemeofdiscriminationagainstwomen,aminorone.

But,minorasitwas,thatwasallittookforsomementodecideIneededshuttingupinthemostaggressivewaypossible:

withadelugeofthreatsofsexualviolence.I’mgoingtoreadsomeofthemoutnow,togiveyouaflavour.Idividethemintotwocategories:

theonesthatsawitasagame,andtheonesthatweremoreserious.

……

Therewasthestalkingmeonline,diggingupdetailsofmypast,myfamily,myworkhistory.Writingblogs,makingvideos,settingupaccountafteraccountafteraccountsolelydedicatedtoeitherharassingme,ortalkingaboutmeabusivelyandintimately.

TherewasthecircumventingblockingonTwitterbyusingask.fm—thisinvolvedmyharassersaskingquestionsofotherpeopleonask.fm,thatincludedmytwitterhandle,whichmeantthatwhenthatpersonansweredoneofthesequestions,Igottweeted.The“questions”variedfromrapethreatstopublishingwhattheythoughtwasmyhomeaddress.Andthequestionswereaskedhundredsandhundredsoftimes,sothattheyfilledupmytwittermentions.AndIcantellyouthatonthedaythistypeofabusewasatitsworst,Ibrokedowncompletely,utterlyoverwhelmed,startingtothinkthatitwasnevergoingtoend.Bythispoint,ithadbeengoingonforaweek.

OneofthesaddestthingsabouttheabuseIsuffered,wasthefactthatitwasn’tjustfrommen.Somewomenjoinedinontheacttoo—althoughthemajorityofthemaliciouscommunicationsIgotfromwomenwereofthevictim-blamingvariety.Stopattention-seeking,you’reamediawhore,afamehag,betyou’recryingyourwaytothebankoverthis.Ifyouwerereallybotheredyouwouldjustkeepquiet.You’renotsilenced—lookatyouallovertheairwaves.Whyshouldwecareaboutyou,you’renotperfect,you’renomotherTeresa.Andatitsworstandmostblatant:

“you’renovictim”.

Inthissocietysteepedinmisogyny,celebrityandinequality,Iwassomeonetobebothenviedandhated—evenastherapethreatscontinuedtocome.Andofcoursewomenturningonmeledamanwhowasstalkingmetocrow:

“EvensomefeministsareturningonCarolineCriado-Pereznow,theycanseeherrealmotives.Couldbeabigbackfire#assraped”.Hewasrightthough.Itwasfeministstoo.

Theimpactofallthisonmylifehasbeendramatic.WhenitwasatitsheightIstruggledtoeat,tosleep,towork.Ilostabouthalfastoneinamatterofdays.Iwasexhaustedandweigheddownbycarryingthesevividimages,thistidalwaveofhatearoundwithmewhereverIwent.AndIkeptbeingaskedtorelivetheexperienceforendlessmediainterviews—whenIlookbackatthatrelentlessattention,Ican’tquitecomprehendit.Itdidn’tfeelrealthen,anditdoesn’tfeelrealnow.Istillcan’tquitebelievethishashappenedtome.

Thepsychologicalfall-outisstillunravelling.IfeellikeI’mwalkingaroundlikeatimerabouttoexplode;

I’mfunctioningatjustunderboilingpoint—andittakessolittletomakemecry—ortomakemescream.

AndI’mstillbeingtoldnottofeedthetrolls.

Ican’tbegintotellyouhowmuchIhatethatphrase.Thatphrasetakesnoaccountofthefeelingsofthevictim—onlyofthefeelingsofasocietythatdoesn’tcare,thatdoesn’twanttohearit,thatwantswomentoputupandshutup.Itcompletelyignorestheactionsoftheabuser,focusingonlyontheactionsofthevictim—becausethat’swhatwedointhissociety.Wepolicevictims.Weask“whydoesn’tsheleave?

”insteadofasking“whydoesn’thestop?

”

Ifthere’sonethingIwanttocomeoutofwhathappenedtome,it’sforthephrase“don’tfeedthetrolls”tobescrubbedfromtheannalsofreceivedwisdom.Notfeedingthetrollsdoesn’tmagicallyscrubouttheimageinyourheadofbeingtoldyou’llbegang-rapedtillyoudie.Whatarevictimsmeanttodowiththatimage,therageandthehorrorthatitconjuresup?

We’remeanttointernaliseituntilitconsumesus?

WellI’msorry,butI’mnothavingthat.

Victimshavetobeallowedtostandupandshoutback—theyneedtobeallowedtoaskforsupport,withoutbeingaccusedofattention-seeking.Theyneedtobeallowedtodrawtheattentionoftheworldtowhatsomanywomengothroughonadailybasis,andmakeitfrontpagenews.Because,makenomistake.Nottalkingaboutthisisnotgoingtomakeabuseandmisogynygoaway.Onthecontrary,itwillhelpittothrive.

Somanywomengotintouchwithmewhenthestorybroketothankmeforspeakingoutaboutit,formakingitfrontpagenewsforsolong.Theyhadbeenthroughthesame,theysaid.Andthepolicehadnothelpedthem.Thepolicehadtoldthemtolocktheiraccounts,tostoptweetingcontroversialthings—inonecase,thecontroversialthingbeingtweetedaboutwasracism.Ablackwomanwasbeingtoldshecouldnottweetaboutracism,becausetherewasnothingthepolicecoulddoabouttheensuingrapethreats.

Well,I’mnothavingthateither.

Thereissomethingthepolicecando.Theycandowhattheyfinally,afteralotofmediacoverageandbehindthescenespushing,didforme,whichistoinvestigatewhatare,afterall,crimes.Hatespeechisacrime.Harassmentisacrime.Andifthepolicedon’thavetheresourcestodealwiththesecrimes,theyneedtobegiventhem—andtheyneedtousethemtoproperlytraintheirforcesabouthowtohandlethesecases.BecauseIdon’twanttoliveina 

societythatjustthrowsupitshandswhenwomenarebeingroutinelyabusedandsays“it’stoohard.Justlivewithit.”

Thereisalsosomethingsocialmediacompaniescando.Theycanmakeitclearthatabuseisnotacceptable,inordertohelpshapeacontextwhereabusedoesn’tthrive.Theycanmakereportingeasier—andinvestinwell-trainedstafftodealwiththesereports.Theycanlistentotheiruserswhentheytellthemthatcertainfeaturesaren’tworking—likethecurrentblockingsystemontwitterthatstillenable