Fostering Healthy Masculinities: Building Resilience Against Online Misogyny

The document argues that online misogyny is a global challenge that fuels gender-based violence (GBV) and technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) while simultaneously harming boys and young men by promoting hypermasculinity and emotional restriction. It identifies algorithmic amplification, influencer economies, and regulatory gaps as key drivers. The brief recommends a coordinated strategy combining 'Safety by Design' in platform architecture, gender-transformative education, community-based interventions in sports and faith spaces, and sustainable funding for long-term behavioural change.

• Online misogyny creates a feedback loop that normalises male dominance and control, while exposing boys to digital environments that endorse hypermasculinity and discourage emotional openness or help-seeking.
• Misogyny serves as a critical gateway to radicalisation and violent extremism, often overlapping with far-right, religious fundamentalist, and conspiratorial movements through a shared language of grievance.
• A monetised ecosystem of 'alpha male' influencers exploits boys' insecurities regarding dating and finances to sell unregulated health products, high-risk investment schemes, and 'looksmaxxing' procedures.
• Safety by Design is presented as a proactive alternative to reactive moderation, where protections are embedded into product lifecycles; examples include AI-powered toxicity filters like Minerva on FACEIT, which reduced toxic messages by 20% in one month.
• Educational interventions are most effective when they move beyond risk avoidance toward a three-tiered digital citizenship framework consisting of skills, literacy, and active citizenship.
• Community-based and hybrid interventions, particularly those embedded in trusted settings like sports clubs and faith spaces, show greater credibility and sustained behavioural change than one-off initiatives.
• Gaming ecosystems are high-risk environments where extremist actors use voice chats and forums to radicalise young players, but they also offer opportunities for pro-social design and 'gamifying' civility.
• There is a significant global gap in the underrepresentation of women in the technology and AI sectors, which increases the risk that these systems will perpetuate gender stereotypes and harmful biases.
• Regulatory frameworks like the EU Digital Services Act, the UK Online Safety Act, and Australia's Online Safety Act are shifting toward systemic risk assessment, though enforcement and cross-border alignment remain uneven.

APA

Institute for Strategic Dialogue (2025). Fostering Healthy Masculinities: Building Resilience Against Online Misogyny. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DPL-Fostering-Healthy-Masculinities-Building-Resilience-Against-Online-Misogyny.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Fostering Healthy Masculinities: Building Resilience Against Online Misogyny. 2025. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DPL-Fostering-Healthy-Masculinities-Building-Resilience-Against-Online-Misogyny.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Strategic Dialogue |title=Fostering Healthy Masculinities: Building Resilience Against Online Misogyny |date=November 2025 |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DPL-Fostering-Healthy-Masculinities-Building-Resilience-Against-Online-Misogyny.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforstrategicdialogue2025fostering, author = {{Institute for Strategic Dialogue}}, title = {{Fostering Healthy Masculinities: Building Resilience Against Online Misogyny}}, institution = {Institute for Strategic Dialogue}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DPL-Fostering-Healthy-Masculinities-Building-Resilience-Against-Online-Misogyny.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }