Before Dee Madigan walked out of the ABC’s studio in Melbourne on Monday night, she changed out of her high heels.
“I’d never walk at night in high heels,” she told Women’s Agenda. “It’s just something blokes probably don’t understand.”
Madigan, the owner and executive creative director of Campaign Edge, was a panelist on the latest episode of the ABC’s program Q+A, and on her way out of the building, she noticed a man waiting outside for her.
“People often do come up to me, and I always tend to try to be nice to people,” she said.
But this was a man waiting for a woman to be walking on her own, late at night, on a dark, empty street. The man was asking Madigan about a “sweary post” she made on X (Twitter) and whether it was “appropriate”. He was also filming her and later posted the video on YouTube.
So I walk out of the ABC and there’s an old guy with a video camera badly hidden in his bag, filming me and he says ‘I’ve been waiting an hour for you, are you the Dee Madigan who told me to fuck off on Twitter?
— Dee Madigan (@deemadigan) October 16, 2023
Me: Probably
Him: Well I think…
Me: Fuck off
The 45-second video, along with the couple of 280-character posts on X, speaks volumes and shines a light on several issues that women, especially high-profile women, face every day for speaking out.
Stalking
Being a victim of stalking is all too common for women. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) data from 2021-2022, 2 million women have experienced stalking since the age of 15. This means one in five women have been stalked in their lifetime.
Madigan is aware of just how common it is, especially as a woman in the public eye who often fights back against issues that women experience each day.
“I’m conscious of it, but like most women, you’re conscious of it anyway,” she said.
“And I think this is why women are so tired, because every time you’re out at night you’re always a little bit conscious of what’s happening around you.
“Men genuinely do not understand what it’s like to be female in a dark street at night with no one around. They just don’t.”
Walking home at night and being on your guard is a shared experience for women, but Madigan said she tries to not let it get the best of her.
“You’re just always aware of what’s around,” she said, “but equally, you can’t let it stop you doing things either.”
Online abuse
Harassment doesn’t just occur in real life. In fact, the frequency of being a victim of harassment is compounded in the online world.
“People will send me DM’s that are horrible. You just kind of get a bit used to it,” Madigan said.
“In real life, they’re not nearly as brave as they are behind the keyboard.”
In March this year, on International Women’s Day, ABC News Breakfast co-host Lisa Millar addressed “obnoxious commentary on Twitter (X)” that she received over what she wore on the show days before.
Millar said the “foul, disgusting, personal abuse” upset her, especially since it was re-published on various news sites across the country.
“I am angry… angry on behalf of myself, and also on behalf of other women, young women who see those stories and see someone like me being violently abused day after day for whatever reason bullies can find,” she said in her statement on air.
Millar and Madigan are not the only women in the public eye who are subject to excessive and dangerous online abuse. A study in the US from 2020 found female Democratic politicians received ten times more abusive comments online than their male counterparts. The researchers reported the attacks targeted at women were based on their physical appearance, as opposed to their political stances.
In Australia, women like TV and radio personality Abbie Chatfield are constantly bombarded with attacks on social media. In 2020, Chatfield shared some of the threatening messages she received following her appearance on The Bachelor.
“You think these accounts are just fake accounts? No. These are people’s parents, daughters, friends,” she wrote in the Instagram post.
“At one point I was scared to be recognised in public, for fear of my safety.”
Some journalists, including award-winning writer and presenter Leigh Sales, do not have an account on X, as a result of extreme online abuse.
Annabel Crabb, political writer and commentator for the ABC, often “switches off” her socials after writing an article that could attract online hate.
“Let’s have a little truth-telling about this week,” she captioned a post on X, attaching a link to her analysis on racism during the Indigenous Voice to Parliament campaigning.
“I wrote this, and as is my practice, I’m switching everything off.”
Double standards
Most of what online attackers write in harassing posts and messages to women involve using atrocious, offensive language.
That’s why it came to a surprise to Dee Madigan on the line of questioning from the man, who allegedly waited for an hour outside the ABC studio.
He was interrogating her on a post she made in response to a post from Bernard Gaynor. In the post on X, Gaynor made horrific comments about how women shouldn’t “get drunk” to avoid a man sexually assaulting her.
Madigan responded to the offensive, inappropriate post, including swear words in her response.
“Some bloke told me off for swearing about that,” she said, “and that’s how it all sort of started.
“Most of the time, I ignore it. Occasionally, I will fight back.”
But Madigan’s fight back copped criticism for her use of swear words, from the man waiting for her and filming her on Monday night and beyond.
“Dudes (are) more offended by swear words than violence against women. Yeah, we’re kinda used to that,” one person wrote on X in reply to Madigan’s post.
Madigan and other high-profile women receive both private and public messages of hate, filled with profanities and hateful language.
The price Madigan paid for her response – a post with a few F-bombs – was being stalked, harassed, filmed and attacked online.
The double standards are as clear as day.