Feminist Responses to Digital Anti-Feminist Violence: The Case of Spanish Grassroots Collectives

The research presented in this paper, conducted between June and December 2023, seeks to understand the role of digital violence against feminist activists and collectives within the broader context of what has been termed the "patriarchal backlash " (Cabezas and Vega, 2022). A digital ethnography conducted with feminist activists in Spain reveals that the majority of aggressors are aligned with extreme right-wing and explicitly anti-feminist ideologies—whether they are organized in a group or collective or not. This digital violence can therefore be understood as part of a global anti-feminist offensive aimed at undermining the progress and work of the feminist movement, particularly that of grassroots feminist collectives.

In response to the violence identified during the fieldwork—ranging from flaming and trolling on social networks, to the non-consensual dissemination of sexual images, image manipulation, harassment, and death threats—activists have developed a series of strategies. These strategies vary depending on several factors, including the activists’ perceived role of their own social media presence; their level of digital literacy; the importance they attribute to this form of violence; and the centrality of care and activist sustainability within each collective.

This paper will present the specific strategies employed by activists to both prevent and combat digital violence, as well as the challenges encountered in resisting such violence. These challenges include limited digital literacy, a lack of established resistance strategies, and the inaction of digital platforms. In this way, this communication aims to share the insights of grassroots activists confronting anti-feminist digital violence on a daily basis, as well as to highlight the challenges that must be addressed in order to effectively confront and ultimately eradicate anti-feminist violence.