WOMEN'S rights groups have called for better policing of social media and internet forums after a pop singer stood up to a stream of sexist abuse over her band's latest music video.
Lauren Mayberry, lead singer with Chvrches, hit back at online trolls who threatened her with rape and branded her a slut and a whore following the release of the video for the song Leave A Trace, in which she wears a short black dress and has wet look hair.
The singer, 27, said she was horrified at the hate-filled tirades and said those responsible are "cavemen" who threaten sexual violence when they do not like what a woman is doing or saying.
As some trolls gloated over the publicity and crudely claimed she was using the controversy to promote the band's new album released next month, women's rights groups praised her actions, and said more should be done to deal with online trolling.
Ms Mayberry said: "The response to the video, that to me just seemed ludicrous really.
"I am a 27-year-old woman wearing a mini dress with wet look hair. If you don't like it that's fine, but there is a difference between criticism and hatred.
"For me, it is sadly predictable, you fall back on the base argument.
"If you don't like what a woman is wearing, you don't like her opinion, you don't like what it is she represents, then you fall back on the basic caveman arguments of threatening with physical and sexual violence because it is your trump card. Because that's the way you get somebody to shut up.
"And I just think that is a very sad state of affairs."
The singer said she had decided to speak out because many women have been subjected to the same kind of abuse, and "the 'just ignore it and it will blow away' argument is not working".
Revealing the sickening abuse she has received, she said: "Somebody tweeted me the other day 'if you can't learn to deal with this sort of s*** stick a gun in your mouth before the record even comes out. I have one and I'll give it to you.'
"Personally that's horrifying, if somebody put that through your door you would go to the police with that."
Sandy Brindley, national coordinator of Rape Crisis Scotland, said the abuse should be subject to a criminal prosecution.
She added: "The abuse women are all too often often subjected to online can be horrifying. Threatening to rape someone – whether online or in real life – is hate speech, and a crime, which should be subject to a police investigation.
"Perpetrators need to know that they can’t hide behind online identities and that there are serious consequences to behaving in such an abusive manner."
Dr Marsha Scott, chief executive of Scottish Women's Aid said: "Hoorah for her for having the guts to call it out for what it is, which is misogyny and sexism at its most base level.
"And every woman who puts their heat above the parapet in the media, whether it is print, internet based or whatever, is likely to experience this.
"There is some piece of work that needs to be developed, to have a more strategic approach to dealing with this.
"Essentially what happens is that it silences a huge amount of women. And I will absolutely say personally, I think very hard before I put a comment up on Twitter or Facebook or on a blog because the first thing that is likely to happen is it attracts the trolls. And we try not to feed the trolls.
"The silencing is invisible but horrific if you think about it.
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