With Catherine Abreu of Destination Zero. I’ve heard people say, “climate disaster knows no bounds” and “it discriminates against no one.” There’s a sense in which that’s true. But impacts of climate change affect different people in Canada and around the world differently, depending on who they are.   Women, girls, and gender-diverse people often experience harsher impacts of climate change, especially if they are marginalized due to racism, poverty, and other factors. They’re also an important part of effective climate solutions. Gender equality itself is a climate crisis solution.  Our guest Catherine Abreu is Founder and Executive Director of Destination Zero and an internationally recognized, award-winning climate justice advocate. Recognized for her diplomacy, communication, and coalition-building skills, she's one of the world’s top 100 climate policy influencers according to Apolitical. Catherine was named the 2023 National Hero by Canada’s Walk of Fame. She’s a member of Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body, the expert body tasked with providing advice to government on pathways to meet climate commitments. She is an advisor to the Canadian Climate Institute and sits on the Boards and steering committees of several organizations, including Climate Action Network Canada, the Global Gas and Oil Network, and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. Catherine is the recipient of the 2020 Jack Layton Progress Prize. She is a vital figure in climate policy and action, shaping global discussions on the transition toward clean energy.  Relevant links: destinationzero.earth  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn  X: @cdnwomenfdn

With cave diver and climate advocate Jill Heinerth. Climate change affects us all. But women, girls, and gender-diverse people often experience harsher impacts of climate change, especially those who are most marginalized. They’re also an important part of effective climate solutions. Gender equality itself is a climate crisis solution.  Anishinabek Nation Chief Water Commissioner Autumn Peltier says, “I advocate for water because we all came from water and water is literally the only reason we are here today and living on this earth.”  The United Nations says, “from unpredictable rainfall patterns to shrinking ice sheets, rising sea levels, floods and droughts – most impacts of climate change come down to water.” Knowing what's happening with our world’s water – and how we can protect and honour it as a life-giving force we all need – is essential.   More people have walked on the moon than visited many of the places our guest Jill Heinerth has explored on Earth. From the most dangerous technical dives deep inside underwater caves to swimming through giant Antarctic icebergs, she collaborates with climatologists, archaeologists, biologists, and engineers worldwide.   Jill is a tireless advocate for underwater conservation and water resource protection. She has made award-winning TV programs, consulted on movies, and produced documentary films. Over two and a half million people have learned about climate change, water advocacy, and exploration by viewing her TED Talks.  Jill was named the first Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and she is the recipient of many medals and awards. She is author of the bestselling memoir, Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver, and focus of a new documentary, Diving Into The Darkness.  Relevant links: intotheplanet.com  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn  X: @cdnwomenfdn

With Mandi Gray, author of Suing for Silence: Sexual Violence and Defamation Law. #MeToo made headlines around the world in 2017 and thousands publicly shared their experiences of sexual victimization. The “me too” movement was first established in 2006 by American activist Tarana Burke. #MeToo has been called a watershed moment for gender equality, giving a powerful platform to sexual violence survivors.  And many of us have experienced sexual assault and harassment in our lives. In Canada, 30% of women over age 15 report experiencing sexual assault at least once. The rate of sexual assault against Indigenous women and women with disabilities is even higher.  But some survivors who said “me too” found themselves subject to defamation lawsuits that, in some cases, might drag on for years. What are the legal matters behind these civil suits?  Our guest Mandi Gray is an assistant professor at Trent University. She has been involved in anti-violence activism since 2008. Her debut book, Suing for Silence: Sexual Violence and Defamation Law, critically examines the growing trend of men accused of sexual violence suing their accusers.  A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence.  Relevant links: yescountmein.ca  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn  X: @cdnwomenfdn

With Prachi Gupta, author of They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies that Raised Us. The Canadian Encyclopedia says the model minority is a stereotype that “depicts Asians as hard working, successful at school and in the workplace, and as economically prosperous.”   It may seem like a positive stereotype. But it divides non-model and model racialized communities, ignores vast disparities in wealth and well-being faced by pan-Asian people, and trivializes the impacts of racism.  That the model minority stereotype is racist is no question. But how does it impact people differently depending on their gender? How does it work to alienate us from ourselves and from each other?  We’re joined by Prachi Gupta, award-winning journalist and former senior reporter at Jezebel. She won a Writers Guild Award for her investigative essay “Stories About My Brother.” Her work was featured in The Best American Magazine Writing 2021 and has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post Magazine, Marie Claire, Salon, Elle, and elsewhere. They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies that Raised Us is her debut memoir, named one of the top 40 books of 2023 by Amazon and top 18 memoirs of the year by Audible. She lives in Brooklyn.  A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence.  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn  X: @cdnwomenfdn

With Katie Harper at Project Neutral. I’ve heard people say, “climate disaster knows no bounds”. There’s a sense in which that’s true. But impacts of climate change affect different people in Canada and around the world differently, depending on who they are.   Women, girls, and gender-diverse people often experience harsher impacts of climate change, especially if they are marginalized due to racism, poverty, and other factors. They’re also an important part of effective climate solutions. Gender equality itself is a climate crisis solution.  Guest Katie Harper is Senior Advisor at Project Neutral. She designs and delivers climate education and activation programs including Talk Climate to Me, an award-winning course for women and allies. Katie has worked on climate engagement in non-profit and corporate sectors for 15 years and holds a Masters in freshwater ecology from McGill University. She delights in stopping to talk to anyone looking at a map on a street corner, and that same desire to make people feel welcome animates her work talking about climate change, and helping people see themselves in a vibrant, healthy, climate-safe future. She lives in Treaty 13 Territory with her husband and two boys, and enjoys mentoring young people in nature connection at The Pine Project outdoor school.  Relevant links: talkclimatetome.ca  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  TikTok: @cdnwomenfdn  X: @cdnwomenfdn

With Jake Stika of Next Gen Men, Fay Slift and Fluffy Soufflé of The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy, Shree Paradkar of the Toronto Star, and Angela Sterritt, national bestselling author of Unbroken. Today’s episode features four of seven incredible speakers at The Walrus Talks Gender-Based Violence, presented by the Canadian Women’s Foundation and held on November 16, 2023. Speakers addressed pressing issues and solutions to end gender-based violence. Listen to learn how we can become allies to survivors of abuse and work as agents of safety and care from the ground up.  A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence.  Relevant links: The Facts about Gender-Based Violence  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation

With Paulette Senior and Anuradha Dugal of the Canadian Women’s Foundation and Pamela Cross at Luke’s Place. Today’s episode features three of seven incredible speakers at The Walrus Talks Gender-Based Violence, presented by the Canadian Women’s Foundation and held on November 16, 2023. Speakers addressed pressing issues and solutions to end gender-based violence.  Listen to learn how we can become allies to survivors of abuse and work as agents of safety and care from the ground up.  A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence.  Relevant links: The Facts about Gender-Based Violence  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation

With Amanda Arella at YWCA Canada. Those who are young face elevated risks of gendered digital harm. Statistics Canada found that, among those aged 18 to 29 years, young women were more often the target of online abuse, with a prevalence almost double the rate of young men. The gender difference was especially pronounced for receiving unwanted sexually suggestive or explicit material, where young women were almost three times as likely to be targeted as young men.  YWCA Canada found that 44% of women and gender-diverse people aged 16 to 30 report having been personally targeted by hate speech online. Those most targeted include people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, Indigenous people, and Black people.  We’re at the end of our series delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators. We’ve been talking about the problem and what we can do to change it. We’ve offered practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we’ve talked about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  Our guest Amanda Arella is the Director of Public Policy, Advocacy, and Strategic Communications at YWCA Canada. Amanda is a lawyer, strategic thinker, and passionate advocate for gender equity. She leads advocacy for feminist regulatory responses to gendered online hate, grounded in the recommendations of youth survivors of online hate and technology-facilitated violence. Prior to joining YWCA Canada, Amanda honed her advocacy skills as a litigator at a national law firm, with a focus on administrative, privacy, and health law.    A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence.  Relevant links: #BlockHate: Centering Survivors and Taking Action on Gendered Online Hate in Canada, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Leigh Naturkach at the Mosaic Institute. We’re still not doing enough to end gendered digital hate, harassment, and abuse on a large scale. Perhaps that can give us the impression that the public doesn’t care or we’re all too complacent to do anything about it.  The numbers tell us otherwise. In 2023, the Canadian Women’s Foundation found that 88% of people in Canada believe we need to make changes so online spaces are safer for everyone. Fifty-eight per cent of women in particular strongly agree with this idea. Likewise, 88% of people in Canada believe social media companies have a responsibility to keep users safe from hate and abuse on their platforms.  Despite outsized voices to the contrary, the vast majority of people in Canada want safer digital spaces and we want accountability for users.  We’re almost at the end of our series delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators. We’ve been talking about the problem and what we can do to change it. We’ve offered practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we’ve talked about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  Our guest Leigh Naturkach is Executive Director at the Mosaic Institute. Prior to this, Leigh worked at Women’s College Hospital Foundation, AIDS Committee of Toronto, right here at the Canadian Women’s Foundation, and in media at Corus Entertainment. Her volunteer experience spans two decades in both leadership and frontline roles, focused on gender equity, reproductive justice, support for young people, and in end-of-life rights and care. A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence.  Relevant links: Pre-registration for Mosaic Institute’s Addressing Online Hate certificate course, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Rhiannon Wong at Women’s Shelters Canada. The Tech Safety Canada website says technology-facilitated gender-based violence “happens when someone uses technology to harm or control you.” It can take the form of “harassing text or social media messages, restricting access to technology, non-consensually sharing intimate images, using location-tracking technology, or threatening to do any of these.” The scope of this abuse is big because the scope of gender-based violence in Canada is big. Statistics Canada says that sixty-seven per cent of those who report online intimidation to police are women and girls, and one in five women report experiencing online harassment.  Over coming episodes, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  Our guest Rhiannon Wong is project manager for Women’s Shelters Canada’s Technology Safety Canada project. She has researched and developed practical technology safety resources and training for anti-violence workers and women, girls, and gender-diverse people that address how technology can be used to create safety and misused by perpetrators to commit crimes of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, impersonation, and harassment.  A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence.  Relevant links: Tech Safety Canada, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Barbara Perry, Professor in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at Ontario Tech University, and Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University. A recent House of Commons report speaks to the rise of ideologically motivated violent extremism in Canada, based on xenophobic, gender-driven, anti-authority, and other personal grievance-driven ideas and ideologies. The report says that, in the age of social media, it can “elude the terminology and analytical frameworks long used by our law enforcement and national security agencies”, and these “longstanding national security threats have been joined by a new breed of violent extremists, lone actors, and leaderless movements whose alliances and espoused causes are constantly mutating.”  In Canada, we’ve seen a 72% increase in hate crimes since 2019. It’s due to increased hate in digital spaces against women, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and targeted ethnic and religious groups.   Over coming episodes, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  Here to draw lines between rising extremism and gendered digital abuse is Barbara Perry, Professor in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at Ontario Tech University, and Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism. Barbara holds a UNESCO Chair in Hate Studies. She has written extensively on social justice, hate crime, and right-wing extremism. Her books include Diversity, Crime and Justice in Canada, In the Name of Hate: Understanding Hate Crime, and Right-wing Extremism in Canada. Her work has been published in journals representing diverse disciplines: Theoretical Criminology, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Journal of History and Politics, and American Indian Quarterly. Dr. Perry continues to work in the area of hate crime, and has made substantial contributions to the limited scholarship on hate crime in Canada, including work on anti-Muslim violence, antisemitic hate crime, hate crime against 2SLGBTQI communities, the community impacts of hate crime, and right-wing extremism in Canada. She is regularly called upon by policy makers, practitioners, and local, national and international media as an expert on hate crime and right-wing extremism. Relevant links: The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Yamikani Msosa, Executive Director at the Ottawa Coalition To End Violence Against Women. Misogynoir, a term coined by Dr. Moya Bailey, describes the distinctive form of anti-Black sexism faced by Black women. We’ve explored it in previous episodes. How does it show up in digital spaces?  The data available paints a distressing picture. UK and US data shows that racialized women are 34% more likely to be mentioned in abusive or problematic tweets than white women, and Black women are especially targeted. They are 84% more likely than white women to be mentioned in these tweets.  In Canada, 44% of women and gender-diverse people aged 16 to 30 have been personally targeted by hate speech online. Those most likely to be targeted include Black women and gender-diverse people.  Over coming episodes, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  Our guest Yamikani Msosa (they/them) helps us understand these experiences so often under-recognized in research. Yamikani is a Black neurodivergent nonbinary award-winning activist and cultural worker on the stolen, traditional, and ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation people. They are Executive Director at the Ottawa Coalition To End Violence Against Women. They co-chair the Advisory for Advancing Gender Equity for Black Women, Girls, and Gender Diverse Peoples in Canada Initiative and also founded SEEDS Yoga for Survivors.  A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence.  Relevant links: Trisha Hersey (@thenapministry), The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Alicia Mccarvell, creator and social media influencer (@aliciamccarvell). There’s a lot of research on how social media can impact users and expose them to harmful content. But those with a prominent online presence experience more digital harassment themselves - politicians, academics, journalists, and professional content creators and highly-followed influencers. Creators and influencers can be subject to repeated insults and derogatory and humiliating comments on a daily basis. Women influencers report more severe consequences, such as going into a state of shock and facing economic losses because of it.  Over coming months, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  We’re joined by creator Alicia Mccarvell. Alicia uses humour to tackle conversations around body image, worth, and self-love. Sharing everything from workout routines and dance videos to updates on her relationship with her husband, Alicia hopes to relate, inspire laughter, and break down barriers.  A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence and suicide.  Relevant Links: Alicia Mccarvell on Instagram and TikTok, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Hannah Sung (@hannsung, @hannah_tok), veteran of Canadian media and co-founder of Media Girlfriends. Communication in the western world has changed a lot: in 1800s, it was printing presses and telegraphs, then telephone, radio, movies, and television. Next came satellites, email and the internet, mobile phones, and smartphones, all the way to today’s social media, digital content, and remote learning and work.   Gender inequalities have a way of persisting through these tidal shifts. Right from the start of the internet’s mass popularity, digital spaces presented gendered safety problems. From the 1990s to 2018, 76% of the complainants in cases of technology-facilitated violence reported to Canadian courts of appeal or the Supreme Court were female and 91% of the accused were male.  Over coming months, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  We’re joined by Hannah Sung, co-founder of the award-winning Media Girlfriends, a production company led by journalists of colour who prioritize inclusion, diversity, and perspectives in media. Media Girlfriends partnered with the Canadian Women’s Foundation to release the Signal for Help podcast. Hannah is a 20+ year veteran of Canadian media and founder of At The End Of the Day newsletter and podcast, an Apple Podcasts Best of 2022. In the past, she worked at the Globe and Mail and CBC. In 2020, she was the Asper Fellow at the University of Western Ontario. Hannah began her career at MuchMusic, where she hosted MuchNews and The NewMusic.  Relevant Links: Hannah Sung on Instagram and TikTok, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence, Feminist Creator Prize Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Dr. Nasreen Rajani. Gendered digital abuse can take lots of forms: threatening or damaging communication, cyberstalking, non-consensual distribution of intimate images, online dating abuse, hacking, doxing (publishing private information about someone online), flaming (posting insults or personal attacks), impersonation, gendered and sexualized disinformation, and more.  Studies show that those who experience more unwanted behaviour online include young women, Black, Indigenous, and racialized women, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people. Still, research is thin when it comes to exploring the nuances of gendered digital abuse in their lives. For instance, very little focusses on the experiences and perspectives of racialized women in Canada.  Over coming months, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  Our guest Dr. Nasreen Rajani has been involved in ending gender-based violence for about seven years through her research and non-profit advocacy work. Her dissertation examined how racialized and Indigenous activists across Canada use digital tools in their work to end gender-based violence. She has been a volunteer and board member with the Women’s Initiatives for Safer Environments (WISE Ottawa) from 2016 to 2021 and is currently an advisor with the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) on their technology-facilitated gender-based violence project. Nasreen is also a member of the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women’s (OCTEVAW) Black and Racialized Persons Caucus, a strategic advisory board that supports the meaningful implementation of equity, anti-racist, decolonial, and intersectional lenses on OCTEVAW’s work.  Relevant Links: “I Bet You Don’t Get What We Get”: An Intersectional Analysis of Technology-Facilitated Violence Experienced by Racialized Women Anti-Violence Online Activists in Canada (Canadian Journal of Law and Technology, 2022), Unacceptable: Responding to Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Fallon Farinacci, social media influencer (@fallonfarinacci). There are good resources designed to help you better respond to and take care of yourself in situations of digital hate and harassment. Right to Be says there’s “no right or perfect response to harassment.” Their online harassment survival guide says it’s ok to feel vulnerable and turn to your support network when you need it. They talk about how important it is to feel connected in your offline life.  Research shows how people who harass and hate don’t always do it from a place of power. They often do it from a place of feeling powerless. It’s no excuse for hurting others.   But what keeps us grounded? Caring community. If we all had more access to caring community – connections that uphold human rights and dignity and positively challenge us to do the same – experiences of hate, harassment, and abuse would not be so commonplace.     Over coming months, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  Our guest Fallon Farinacci is Red River Métis and a child survivor, advocate, and speaker for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. Fallon testified in the National Inquiry for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, sharing her story of loss and trauma. Later, Fallon joined The National Family Advisory Circle, where she worked closely with other affected family members and the Commissioners for the National Inquiry. Fallon continues to share her family’s story and brings awareness to ongoing genocide Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit people face in hopes of bringing change across Turtle Island.  A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence and suicide.  Relevant Links: Fallon Farinacci on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Stephanie Jonsson at Ontario Digital Literacy and Access Network (ODLAN). Organizations working on gender justice, feminist, and 2SLGBTQIA+ issues are subject to online attacks intended to delegitimize and devalue their efforts. Employees who deal with these attacks have little protection. Their mental health is impacted, and their time and resources are wasted. They’re likely to have to leave digital spaces rather than stay and contend with the onslaught. Over coming months, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  We’re joined by Stephanie Jonsson, co-founder of ODLAN. She’s a Ph.D. Candidate in Gender, Feminist, and Women's Studies at York University. ODLAN raises awareness and trains organizations on the significance of digital inclusion. It acknowledges that colonization and white supremacy created the social conditions that sustain inequality and marginalize queerness - even in digital spaces. The digital divide is part of this ongoing colonization, and digital access and safety for all cannot be achieved until Indigenous communities have full access to digital spaces. ODLAN stands firm in its conviction that digital safety and accessibility remain fundamental to the broader project of decolonization. ODLAN’s mission is to remove digital literacy and access barriers and it provides organizations with tools, knowledge, and training to develop digital inclusion strategies. Stephanie is dedicated to building projects that build the strength and resilience of Rainbow communities.  Relevant Links: ODLAN’s website, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Libby Ward, social media influencer (@diaryofanhonestmom). Digital hate, harassment, and violence hurts so many women, girls, and Two Spirit, trans, and non-binary people in Canada. Content creators who address gender justice issues like Libby have a lot to teach us about it. Kelly Odenweller’s research identifies gendered stereotypes and assumptions about mothers and motherhood. They can easily make mothers feel as if they’re not living up to an ideal. If other people treat them poorly because of these stereotypes, they can feel isolated, anxious, and depressed.  It’s caring community and allyship that can make a world of difference. No wonder motherhood content and content about raising kids is so popular in digital spaces. Mothers may seek it out to find belonging, connection, and representation.  The trouble is that digital spaces also carry risks for diverse mothers and caregivers. They might find themselves targeted online based on their motherhood, as much as they’re targeted for other elements of who they are.  Over coming months, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  Our guest Libby Ward is a digital creator, speaker, and mental health advocate. She’s known on Instagram and TikTok @diaryofanhonestmom and she’s committed to changing the motherhood narrative. She’s been recognized as a mental health advocate by TikTok, and has been featured on BBC, Good Morning America, Global News, and more. Her bestselling journal, entitled The Honest Mom Journal: The Struggling Mom’s Guide to Struggling Less, has helped thousands of mothers.  Relevant Links: Libby Ward on Instagram and TikTok, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Chris Bail, Founding Director of the Polarization Lab. The fact that social media platforms draw out and reward anti-social, polarizing behaviour goes hand-in-hand with the gendered hate and abuse so common to digital interactions. We can’t fix one without fixing the other.    Nor can we ignore what social media does for us psychologically and socially. We use these platforms to build our personal identities. We use them to find community and a sense of belonging. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It's often a good thing. But it gets dangerous when platforms reward attacking and hurtful behaviour, when they encourage the targeting of vulnerable people, and when they make it easy to exert power over those with less power.  In that sense, it’s easy to see why women, girls, and gender-diverse people, especially those who face multiple barriers, are so unsafe in digital spaces. Digital spaces reinforce and amplify the unbalanced power and abuse we know too well in our day-to-day lives.   There’s a glimmer of hope: digital spaces are ultimately human built. The fact that they’re like this is not inevitable and it’s not unchangeable. Over coming months, we’re delving into this with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  We’re joined by Chris Bail, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Duke University, where he directs the Polarization Lab. He studies political tribalism, extremism, and social psychology using data from social media and tools from the emerging field of computational social science. He is the author of Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make our Platforms Less Polarizing. A Guggenheim Fellow and Carnegie Fellow, Chris's research appears in leading publications such as Science, the American Journal of Public Health, and New York Times. He appeared on NBC Nightly News, CBS News, BBC, and CNN. His research has been covered by Wired, The Atlantic, Scientific American, and more. He regularly lectures to government, business, and the non-profit sector and consults with social media platforms struggling to combat polarization. He serves on the Advisory Committee to the National Science Foundation's Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate and helped create Duke's Interdisciplinary Data Science Program. Chris received his PhD from Harvard University in 2011.  Relevant Links: Polarization Lab, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

With Brynta Ponn, social media influencer (@bryntaponn, @brynstagram). Digital hate, harassment, and violence hurts so many women, girls, and Two Spirit, trans, and non-binary people in Canada. Content creators who address gender justice issues like Brynta have a lot to teach us about it.  Body shaming is defined as “unsolicited, mostly negative opinions or comments about a target’s body” that “can range from well-meant advice to malevolent insults”. That women and gender-diverse people deal with endless commentary about our bodies is nothing new. In our digital age, it’s highly public and downright weaponized, wrapped up with sexist, racist, ableist, homophobic, and transphobic language. Those of us with bodies different than the stereotyped ideal, like plus-sized women, get especially targeted on social media.  Digital body shaming and blaming has serious implications for our mental health and self-esteem. And adds to the silencing effect women and gender-diverse people face online. The irony of this is that most of our bodies don’t match the limited ideal. Over coming months, we’re delving into gendered digital hate and harassment with leading experts and content creators, releasing in-depth episodes every single week. We talk about the problem and what we can do to change it. We offer practical tips to help you in your digital life, and we talk about what it means to “take back the tech” for all of us.  Our guest Brynta Ponn is a body confidence advocate and content creator. She’s based in Toronto and was raised in a South Asian community. She understands what it’s like to grow up with body image issues. She encourages people to live unapologetically, no matter what their journey with their body is. Her goal is to be a voice counteracting the negativity surrounding outdated beauty standards for women – for young girls, especially. She empowers women of all ages from all walks of life to be kinder to themselves and live their lives confidently and without shame.  A note about content: this episode addresses gender-based violence.  Relevant Links: Brynta Ponn on Instagram and TikTok, The Facts about Gendered Digital Hate, Harassment, and Violence  Brief Listener Survey: did this episode help you? Fill out and be entered to win a great prize pack!  Episode ⁠Transcripts⁠  Please listen, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and share it with others. If you appreciate this content, if you want to get in on the efforts to build a gender equal Canada, please donate at ⁠canadianwomen.org⁠ and consider becoming a monthly donor.  Facebook: Canadian Women’s Foundation  Twitter: @cdnwomenfdn  LinkedIn: The Canadian Women’s Foundation  Instagram: @canadianwomensfoundation  This series of podcast episodes has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.