Hi Nicole,

Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my article. While you made some valid points, I’d like to clarify a few things here.

First of all: I am not Caucasian. I am one of the first in my family to live in a first world country. We come from one of the poorest in the world and much of them lived in bomb shelters growing up. Many of my cousins were born in refugee camps, as that’s where my parents lived before having me.

I have dealt (and currently deal) with blatant sexism and racism both online and offline, including sexual violence and harassment.

I can’t speak for Christina Ford or anyone else you listed here, however, what I can speak for are my own experiences on Medium — involving direct harassment and threats from men who have been continuously spewing hatred towards the female gender.

Much of the hate speech happens behind the scenes — on Facebook, on Twitter, through email… but the finishing touches, unfortunately, are published on the platform.

Medium has taken account of who these men are and some of them have even been banned — for violating their policies.

You mentioned that women here are whining about first world problems, but they’re not. For many, hate speech is a trigger for those who have experienced rape.

Whether it’s online or offline, it’s still not okay. When we ignore misogyny, it breeds further hate. Women have been silenced long enough and the only way to stop it is to speak up.