Misogynistic attacks on women on social media have spiked since Donald Trump’s presidential victory, according to research by a London think tank.
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) found that women in the US have faced “an onslaught of online abuse, harassment, and denigration” following the November 5 election, which focused heavily on women and reproductive rights.
Researchers monitored posts on X, TikTok, Facebook and Reddit between November 4 and 6.
They said the abuse they saw was “more than just a continuation” of misogynist trends seen in the aftermath of other recent US elections, suggesting right-wing commentators and influencers feeling “emboldened” following Trump’s victory.
Calls for women to “get back to the kitchen” and to “repeal the 19th” - the US constitutional amendment that gave women the right to vote - peaked shortly after the election before then falling, said the ISD in its report.
Mentions of “your body my choice” also peaked massively and then continued to rise, largely driven by social media users pushing back against the phrase.
Far-right American podcaster Nick Fuentes used the phrase in a November 6 post on X, writing: “Your body, my choice. Forever.”
The tweet has since been viewed more than 90 million times, receiving more than 50,000 likes as well as tens of thousands of retweets and comments.
The phrase - a play on the phrase “my body, my choice” used by reproductive rights activists - was then used online thousands of times every day, peaking with more than 12,000 mentions across social platforms on November 8, the ISD found.
In just 24 hours there was a 4,600 per cent increase in use of the terms “your body, my choice” and “get back in the kitchen”, it reported.
Female TikTok users reported “your body, my choice” was being commented on their posts en masse.
One said she had to delete a video because she was being threatened by men “saying they couldn’t wait until I get raped or ‘your body my choice’” said the ISD.
Your body, my choice. Forever.
— Nicholas J. Fuentes (@NickJFuentes) November 6, 2024
The ISD said another said: “I woke up this morning to men commenting ‘your body, my choice.’”
The phrase received widespread anger and was quoted in many posts by those hitting back at the phrase.
The phrase “your body, my choice” also appears to have made its way offline, specifically into schools, reports the ISD.
Parents reported the phrase had been directed at their daughters, or chanted by boys in classes.
The ISD said it believes an “emboldened group of ‘manosphere’ influencers” and high-profile people exploited Trump’s election “as a rebuke of both reproductive rights and women’s rights”.
“The impact on women could extend into the next presidential election and beyond,” it added.
On Election Day alone there were 64,000 posts that used misogynistic language used to refer to women including Kamala Harris, and US TV host Rachel Maddow.
The study also highlighted a November 7 tweet by far-right influencer Andrew Tate, who wrote: “I saw a woman crossing the road today but I just kept my foot down. Right of way? You no longer have rights.”
The post received 688,000 views in under two hours, said the ISD, and received 10 million views.
A subset of the narratives were threatening women with sexual assaults. ISD found five posts on X that called for “rape squads” or “rape,” the largest of which had 18,000 views and came with the phrase “your body, my choice.”
