Children, young people and online influences
Online misogyny is on the rise and research has shown that it only takes 12 to 26 minutes before a TikTok account created by a boy or man to be shown involuntary celibate (incel) content. It is not surprising that the overwhelming majority of children and young people will be exposed to this harmful content, with the majority also being exposed to violent pornography before the age of 18.
This event takes place on Monday 8 December, 9.30am to 12.30pm and looks at current online trends in incel culture, misogyny, online pornography and its impacts on children and young people:
- Dr. Stu Lucy will introduce and explain the term incel culture, and how it is spread in the online world and through social media.
- Dr. Alessia Tranchese will discuss the links between online misogyny, incel culture and their links to online extreme pornography.
- Professor Harriet Over will discuss the impact of online misogyny in primary and secondary education settings.
This expert input will be followed by recommendations for how professionals can counteract this and prevent the very real damage it can cause in the offline world and how to hold constructive discussions with children and young people around these topics.
If you
- work for the City of Edinburgh Council, please register on My Learning Hub
- do not work for the City of Edinburgh Council, please sign up using our online misogyny, children and young people form.
Event speakers
Dr. Stu Lucy is an ESRC Research Fellow based in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Portsmouth. His research focuses on the journey young and adolescent men take into the incel community and the possible interventions that can be implemented to assuage this trend. Stu has published in Men and Masculinities and Routledge handbooks on online deviance. He is currently working on a solo book, How to Make an Incel, which focuses on his PHD research, a co-authored book reviewing problematic contributions to the field, as well as several supplementary articles spanning sociology, gender theory, and media and communications disciplines.
Dr Alessia Tranchese is an Associate Professor in Language, Feminism, and Digital Media at the University of Portsmouth. Her research explores the representation of violence against women in the media, online misogyny, and pornography. She is particularly interested in the intersections of technology and gender-based violence, and her recent work examines AI bias in recognising violence against women. Alessia is the author of From Fritzl to #MeToo: Twelve Years of Rape Coverage in the British Press and has published in leading journals including Violence Against Women and Feminist Media Studies. Alongside her academic work, she collaborates with charities, journalists, and educators to improve media coverage of violence against women and to strengthen media literacy and sex education initiatives.
Professor Harriet Over is a developmental and social psychologist based at the University of York. Before moving to York, she worked at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. She completed her PhD at Cardiff University in 2010. Her research explores the origins of prejudice and discrimination in childhood. Her recent work bridges psychology, digital culture, and mental health with a particular focus on online harms. She is especially interested in how online misogyny is affecting the behaviour and experiences of young people. Harriet’s work has been supported by the European Research Council, Smart Data Research UK, the Economic and Social Research Council, and the Leverhulme Trust. She is principal investigator of the new HATESHIELD project, an EU-funded initiative to develop research-led interventions that encourage more egalitarian gender attitudes among children and young people
