PEN America offers online harassment self-defense training

Join Journalism & Women Symposium for a virtual Online Harassment Self-Defense Training with Viktorya Vilk of PEN America on Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 6-7:30 p.m. ET.

Women journalists are facing unprecedented levels of hate and harassment online. Abusive trolls are joining forces to disproportionately target, intimidate, discredit, and silence women and those who also identify as LGBTQIA+, Indigenous, Black or other journalists of color. Building on PEN America’s Online Harassment Field Manual, this training session equips journalists, as well as their allies and employers, with practical tools and strategies to defend against online abuse.

We’ll talk about how to prepare, respond, take care of yourself, and support others. While there are no easy answers, open conversations about the impact of online abuse and how to fight back can empower women journalists to stay online and continue exercising their free expression rights.