3 days ago
TG4 broadcaster says new series will lay bare Ireland's misogyny epidemic
Áine Ní Bhreisleáin reveals that she often suffers abuse if she posts anything online.
An epidemic of misogyny in Ireland will be laid bare in a new platform inviting women to share their stories.
Veteran journalist and broadcaster Áine Ní Bhreisleáin will front a radio series, podcast and TG4 documentary Fuath Ban – Irish for misogyny – and reveals she's been a target of online hate.
She's inviting women to share their stories for the project in an Irish version of Everyday Sexism, the online platform set up in the UK by Laura Bates in 2012.
It's influenced Facebook policies on rape and domestic abuse content and changed British Transport Police treatment of sexual offences.
Áine reveals that she often suffers abuse if she posts anything online.
'Across Facebook and X there are people who spend entire days doling out abuse willy nilly, mostly towards women, often female politicians, sportswomen, broadcasters.
'When you are a broadcaster, in any forums you leave yourself open to comment. You are public property.
'You have to brace yourself to get comments like 'does she know what she's talking about?' often from accounts that have no name.
'You're asking yourself do I know this person? Are they hiding under an online identity? It's depressing.'
The broadcaster says the rise in violence against women and girls in Ireland, north and south, shows that social media abuse spills over into reality. Women's Aid figures show the rate of femicide in Ireland has been rising for the last 15 years, following a worrying global trend.
'If you can act like that online it can bleed into people thinking they can act like that in real life,' says Áine. 'The figures for domestic violence and different forms of coercive control and femicide rates are terrifying. How is this acceptable?'
The project is talking to teachers who have to deal with classroom incidents and abuse from young boys who have learned anti-women attitudes from online 'manfluencers' such as Andrew Tate, a self-confessed misogynist, and parents who have struggled to deal with the challenges of technology.
It will look at the world of gaming, where sexism is rife, and the culture of incels, so-called involuntarily celibate men who blame women for their singlehood.
The recent riots in Ballymena, following a protest allegedly opposing violence against women and girls, also showed how the issue can be weaponised, says Áine.
'It's using the broad term of standing up for women and girls to incite race riots,' she says.
'We're also looking at ways that victimhood for women is tiered. A white middle-class victim is more important than a community who have moved here.
Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate. Photo: AFP via Getty Images
'It's people using dreadful incidents to incite men to go out and use violence against other men in the community in the name of violence against women and girls.'
The project has invited men to share their experience of misogyny, and welcomes input from the trans community. It will also examine how women can be part of the problem.
'We'll talk about how the message bleeds into internalised misogyny in women, when they agree with this 'we are looking after our own'.
'Women will also comment online about other women's appearance, how they speak, what they wear. Someone will write something online they will never say to your face.'
The idea for the project was sparked by the Stephen Graham Netflix drama Adolescence, about a young boy radicalised by online toxic masculinity who murders a female classmate.
Áine believes education for young people is essential as well as greater accountability for social media companies.
'At a young age it has to be more unacceptable to behave like this. A lot of it is down to education for young boys and young girls.
'On platforms like X you can be reported for things but no one polices it. There is no comeback for doing or saying or writing something horrible.
'The regulation is so scant. It seems like an unstoppable tide,' says the presenter.
Submitted anonymous stories will be published on Instagram at on Twitter at @FuathBan and on Facebook at Fuath Ban, and submissions can be made in English or Irish.
