Government publishes strategy aimed at tackling effects of porn and 'tradwife influencers'

Published by the Department of Children and Equality, the national strategy for women and girls warns of the perverse effects of the ‘manosphere’ and other social media trends such as ‘tradwife influencers'. File picture

The effects of pornography and online influencing trends that could encourage gender-based violence are set to be targeted by Government in a new gender equality action plan.

Published by the Department of Children and Equality, the national strategy for women and girls warns of the perverse effects of the ‘manosphere’ and other social media trends such as ‘tradwife influencers'.

The department defines the ‘manosphere’ as “online hate speech and misogyny produced by male influencers who propagate misogynistic views in an online realm".

Young men stand increasingly at risk of being “indoctrinated into ideologies that do not accept gender equality and instead seek to normalise discrimination and violence against women", according to the strategy paper.

Catherine Baker, a postdoctoral researcher in Dublin City University specialising in gender and media studies, said young social media users are often unwittingly targeted by algorithms with harmful gender-based content.

“This content may now be increasingly suggested to and consumed by young people who have not intentionally sought it out,” she said.

Ms Baker said research pointed towards renewed investment in traditional gender roles “such as the dominant male breadwinner and submissive female partner archetypes".

The Government action plan touted public awareness campaigns as a means to addressing harassment in online spaces.

While Ms Baker said public awareness campaigns marked an important step in combating sexual violence, reform needed to be coupled with increased education on digital literacy skills in identifying predatory social media algorithms.

“This should work in tandem with policy focused on regulating the tech companies that facilitate the amplification of this content among young people,” she said.

“Policies that target tech companies, or that invest in education and infrastructure for young people, are better suited than reactive social media bans, which lack empirical backing.” 

The action plan said a key cornerstone of reducing threats against women was reducing exposure to violent and extreme pornography.

The plan warned that this exposure was triggering an increase in sexual violence in the 12-25 age category. Approximately half of young Irish adults (aged 18-24) experienced sexual harassment in the last 12 months.

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The strategy outlined steps to work with Cuan — the state agency designed to tackle domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence — and the Department of Justice towards developing pornographic literacy.

Other commitments include aims to "develop policy to address the impacts of restrictive masculinities on women and girls" and roll out the gender pay gap reporting portal on a mandatory basis.

Ireland is one of multiple EU countries that have yet to fully implement an EU Pay Transparency Directive which aims to increase gender pay transparency.

There are also measures to make school uniforms more comfortable and affordable, and an updated SPHE (social, personal, and health education) curriculum that will be more gender-inclusive and introduced by 2027.