Is the internet a safe place for women? Not so much. Certainly not for LA-based professional violinist, Mia Matsumiya.
Over the past ten years, Matsumiya has received thousands of abusive messages via the internet. She told The Huffington Post ‘Being 4'9", Asian-American, and a musical performer has sort of been a nightmare combination when it comes to harassment - it seems to attract an insane amount of unacceptable, predatory behaviour.’
Horrific? Yes. Unsurprising? Not massively. The online harassment of women is so common, it’s practically normalised.
Earlier this year Lena Dunham quit Twitter due to the ‘verbal violence’she was victim to on the platform: ‘It truly wasn't a safe space for me,’ she said. Nicki Minaj and Lily James are also amongst the ever-growing list of high profile women trolled off the internet.
What has Matsumiya done in response to the awful flood of aggression she received? Set up an Instagram account, @Perv_Magnet, which is an astonishing testament to a decade’s worth of horror that has played out for her online.
‘People often deny the existence racism or sexism, but I'm pelted with it almost daily and here's my proof,’ said Matsumiya.
We urge you to check out @Perv_Magnet. It’s irrefutable proof that more needs to be done to hold people accountable for their words and actions online. Matsumiya is fuelling the conversation around online harrassment in a powerful way, let’s keep it going.
The internet doesn’t have to be a hostile place, but right now for a lot of women, it is. We should all be shouting loudly about how wrong that is.
***Words by Georgia Simmonds. ***