By Natalie O'Brien
Van Badham unfortunately knows a lot about trolling. The columnist and writer has pretty much experienced it all.
In her workplace – which also happens to be the online space – it happens every day.
Van Badham has been the target of trolling, bullying and harassment.Credit: Michael Clayton-Jones
"It is a war of attrition," she told Fairfax Media.
"And the effect is cumulative. When it is happening every day in different forms and different ways it is insidious. The way the online space has enabled people to feel entitled to carry out this abuse is shocking."
Ms Badham is one of the many female journalists and commentators who find themselves being bullied, trolled, stalked and harassed for having an opinion or a profile.
A new report – "Exposed: Women journalists and online harassment" – has found that the attacks have become commonplace.
The survey of women in the media revealed that in-house journalists are most likely to experience this, with 41 per cent being trolled, while freelancers are most likely to be cyber-stalked, at 18 per cent.
The survey was developed by the national steering committee of Women in Media, a mentoring, networking and advocacy group supported by the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, and researcher Beverley Uther.
Conducted by iSentia, it collected data from 1054 Australian journalists late last year, with 91.8 per cent of the respondents being women.
The report also addressed issues of discrimination in the industry and participants responded by saying it was rife.
"Mates over merit" was a frequently expressed sentiment, with many noting the declining number of women "as you go up the food chain", the report said.
"For those with a long career, the issue of ageism is of increasing concern. Despite policies to prevent discrimination, barely half of respondents rate them positively: only 11 per cent said they were very effective," it said.
The survey also found evidence of a significant gender pay gap in the survey data, reinforced by research from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency that revealed a 23.3 per cent gap in Information, Media and Telecommunications.
The national convener of Women in Media, Tracey Spicer, said while the survey concentrated on journalists and commentators, she believes it reflects what is happening in broader society.
The survey said more than half (60 per cent) of respondents believed social media harassment was more likely to be directed at women while only 5 per cent believed men were more likely to be targeted.
The report has called for improved procedures to deal with social media harassment after the report included examples from women, who have not been identified, who had detailed the social media attacks they had suffered such as:
"I was sent rape and death threats, had my email hacked."
"I was followed out by a man who took photos of me and my friends – this was after months of being defamed online. I was forced to call the police to intervene."
"Emails with descriptions of the bus my son catches to school, threats of rape."
"It's had a huge impact, including being the cause of changing my career as a journalist."
"Stalkers have arrived at work and said they had an appointment to be interviewed by me. They were escorted off premises by security. Once somebody knocked on my front door and gave my flatmate a 'gift' for me: it was a large bullet from an automatic weapon."
"Man sent more than 400 messages to me on Facebook, asked to move in with me and my partner, worked out where we lived and printed pictures of me and my partner kissing and distributed them."
"I block and report more often now, and don't engage in controversial topics."
But it is the transition into the physical space that has become even more intimidating. Ms Badham has also had people who have turned up at her home, sent threatening material in the mail, stalked her and impersonated her partner and her friends.
She believes that broader society does not comprehend how comprehensive the bullying is and a conversation is needed to bring about real change.