You never imagined that something consensual and private could unravel your career. You didn’t break any rules. You didn’t breach any contracts. And yet, one day, the office to which you had given your best became hostile terrain. Not because of your competence. Not because of your conduct. But because of who you are: a woman.
What Online Misogyny Looks Like in Professional Spaces
Online misogyny isn’t always an anonymous hate comment on social media. Sometimes, it wears a suit, smiles across meeting rooms, and waits for the moment you’re vulnerable. It surfaces when colleagues share screenshots without consent, forward private texts, or dissect your personal life in WhatsApp groups. It thrives in gossip, in silence, and in complicity.
Priya Srivastava’s Story: Consent Turned Against Her
Priya Srivastava, an IT professional based in Bengaluru, had steadily built her career within the cybersecurity division of a multinational firm. As a team lead managing ten employees and handling high-stakes projects, she was respected, even considered for an international secondment.
She had also been in a discreet, consensual relationship with an ex-colleague. When the relationship ended amicably, she assumed life would continue as usual. But within weeks, her reality shifted. Photos from office events — harmless in themselves — were circulated with derogatory captions. A Telegram group surfaced, mocking her clothes, belittling her work, and insinuating she had advanced professionally through inappropriate means.
Private conversations were leaked selectively and maliciously, stripped of context. Cruelty followed her inbox, her timeline, even her professional LinkedIn feed. And the perpetrators? Fellow employees — people she had collaborated with, supported, and trusted.
The final blow came when a client raised “reputation concerns” after stumbling across the false narratives online. HR called her in, not to support her, but to suggest she take a leave of absence “until things settled.” No one was held accountable. No investigation ensued. The unspoken message was clear: her silence was easier to manage than the discomfort of justice.
Eventually, Priya resigned.
“I had done nothing wrong,” she said later. “But I was treated like a liability — because I was a woman whose private life had been turned into public spectacle.”
When Bias Meets Gossip: A Toxic Brew
You noticed how quickly people chose sides — not based on evidence, but on assumptions. Male colleagues gave him the benefit of the doubt; female colleagues distanced themselves, fearful your downfall might tarnish them by association. No one asked you what had actually happened. They had already drawn their conclusions.
The workplace transformed into a crucible of judgment. Your past — or their imagined version of it — became your performance review. You weren’t evaluated for your contributions, but for your perceived “drama”.
The Emotional Fallout: When Cyber Harassment Follows You Home
Even after you left, the attacks persisted. Your name was dragged through Reddit threads, your photos doctored and distributed, your reputation shredded across anonymous platforms. The anxiety became constant. You began to dread your phone. You doubted your memories, worth, and right to feel safe.
Priya said she stopped applying for new roles for months. “I couldn’t even update my CV without crying,” she recalled. “I felt tainted — like I had to defend myself before I’d even walked into a room.”
You lost sleep. You lost confidence. You nearly lost yourself.
What Must Change: Building Safer Workplaces for Women
Your story — and Priya’s — are not rare. They are echoes of a much larger crisis: a toxic intersection of technology, misogyny, and institutional apathy.
It is no longer enough for companies to issue performative diversity statements. They must actively build systems of protection and accountability:
Robust HR protocols that recognise online abuse as workplace misconduct.
Anonymous reporting mechanisms that shield survivors from retaliation.
Clear consequences for those who weaponise gossip, leak private content, or collude in digital harassment.
Regular training on digital consent, gender sensitivity, and unconscious bias.
Access to mental health resources, tailored to survivors of online and workplace abuse.
You did not fail. The system failed you. Until these systems are rebuilt — with empathy, accountability, and feminist reform at their core — the internet and the workplaces it permeates will remain perilous places for women who dare to live, love, and lead on their own terms.