With the rise of social media, that's certainly a reality for a lot of young women. It can certainly be intimidating to see that kind of violence and problematic comments around you personally on your social media. Nobody likes logging onto Facebook and having problematic language about them in their newsfeed. That is certainly a reality a lot of women are facing.
One of the concerns I had was with the situation I faced last winter. The five men who took part in the Facebook conversation about me were in positions of leadership themselves, so my concern was twofold. I was concerned for the safety of women on my campus because these men were responsible for organizing events, some of which involved alcohol. The other concern I had was that women on my campus would feel intimidated to run for positions of leadership because the reality of the misogyny that young women face is in no way comparable to any of the violence that men face on campus.
The misogyny women face is a form of intimidation that men don't experience. It is unfortunately going to be discouraging women from running for positions of leadership.
I chose to keep fighting. I don't want to let problematic attitudes prevent me from moving forward and achieving my goals, but the reality for some women is scary, particularly women who might have experienced traumatic experiences prior to seeing this kind of behaviour. Misogyny is certainly a deterrent for women obtaining positions of leadership.
Having a proactive approach and educating our communities around gender-based violence and misogyny and how to challenge it is going to be the key to moving forward.