Online misogyny is a global challenge with far-reaching consequences for equality, safety and public health. It directly fuels gender-based violence (GBV) and technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) against women, girls and LGBTQ+ communities. While women and girls remain the primary targets, boys and young men are also affected both as potential participants in misogynistic environments, and victims of the same systems and norms that drive them. Misogynistic content and behaviours online reinforce patriarchal gender expectations or male dominance and control, normalising attitudes that condone such behaviour. At the same time, boys and young men are exposed to digital environments that endorse hypermasculinity, encouraging risky behaviours around fitness, appearance and financial success, and promoting coercion and sexual entitlement while discouraging help-seeking or emotional openness. These dynamics silence boys’ own experience of harm and reinforce patterns of guilt, shame or self-blame. This exposure also impacts boys’ and men’s wellbeing, identities and relationships in ways that reinforce cycles of grievance, polarisation and, in some cases, extremist mobilisation.
