Internet Matters — Research into online misogyny and image-based abuse

What the study found

Internet Matters research into online misogyny and image-based abuse reported that children who are already vulnerable are more likely to experience image-based abuse than their peers, and that while roughly half of teens had heard about someone experiencing such abuse, direct personal experience was more limited. It also found that 46 per cent of 15 to 16-year-olds had a limited understanding of what misogyny is, that similar proportions of boys and girls agreed the internet has made misogyny worse, and that a large majority of 13 to 16-year-olds surveyed regard the sharing of nudes as harmful. ^[1]

Why it matters here

These survey findings describe how misogyny and image-based abuse reach teenagers online, and how well young people themselves understand and judge that content. On this site the report is cited in the discussion of whether watching Andrew Tate contributes to misogyny, where teens' exposure to and awareness of online misogyny provides background alongside other survey and experimental evidence. The research reports young people's experiences and attitudes rather than establishing that any single influencer causes them.