37.1106, Confs: Online Discourse of Gender-Based Violence International Conference (France)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1106. Wed Mar 18 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1106, Confs: Online Discourse of Gender-Based Violence International Conference (France)

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Date: 17-Mar-2026
From: Océane Foubert [oceane.foubert at u-picardie.fr]
Subject: Online Discourse of Gender-Based Violence International Conference


Online Discourse of Gender-Based Violence International Conference
Short Title: ODGBV

Date: 13-Jan-2027 - 15-Jan-2027
Location: Amiens, France
Contact: Océane Foubert
Contact Email: oceane.foubert at u-picardie.fr
Meeting URL: https://odgbv27.sciencesconf.org/

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis;
Sociolinguistics; Text/Corpus Linguistics

Submission Deadline: 30-Apr-2026

The very first days of 2026 have witnessed the proliferation of Grok
AI-generated deepfakes on X. Over the past decade, institutional
reports have constantly reported the presence of gender-based violence
online (e.g. Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2016; UN Human
Rights Council 2018; Amnesty International 2020; Haut Conseil à
l’Égalité 2024). In 2017, the European Institute for Gender Equality
estimated that one in ten women had already experienced a form of
cyber violence since the age of 15 (EIGE 2017: 1), encompassing cyber
stalking, cyber harassment, gender-based hate speech, and
non-consensual intimate image abuse (EIGE 2022).
Online gender-based violence is a widespread, cross-cultural issue.
Social media platforms enable the rapid spread of harmful discourse
and the emergence of online communities united by hostility toward
particular social groups, such as women and LGBTIQ+ people. A notable
example of this phenomenon is the (neo-)manosphere (Gerrand et al.
2025), which has received growing interest from linguistics
researchers in recent years . This rich literature has focused
particularly on English-speaking communities (see Czerwinsky, 2023 for
an overview), where researchers have examined discursive
representations of masculinity, femininity (Heritage & Koller 2020;
Iveson & Formato 2022; Krendel et al. 2022), and feminism (Aiston
2024;), as well as the lexicon (e.g. Ging et al. 2020; Gothard et al.
2021; Bogetić 2023).
While there is research on these discourses outside the
English-speaking world, such as in Turkey (Denir & Tiryaki 2024) or
Spain (Fernández et al. 2023), it is not always conducted within the
field of linguistics. Notable exceptions include Huang (2023) and Bao
(2024), who observed the expression of anti-feminism on Chinese social
media. Applying critical discourse analysis, Huang (2023) identified
strategies demonising feminists, such as representing feminists as
deviant women. More specifically looking at metaphors used to
represent feminism, Bao (2024) found that war metaphors were the most
frequent, thereby presenting it as a threat to be eliminated. Within
this still limited body of linguistic research outside the
English-speaking world, a few additional studies can be noted. From a
comparative and intercultural perspective, Anastasi et al. (2023)
analysed the dynamics of interactions within online Incel communities
in Italian and English. Adopting an approach that combines natural
language processing and feminist studies, their thematic exploration
highlights variations both in the topics discussed and in the targets
of hateful content. Incel discourse has also been characterised, among
other features, by a neoliberal market logic extended to the domain of
sexuality (Scarcelli 2021). In this context, Anastasi and Fragalà
(2025), examined how dating applications such as Tinder are
discursively constructed within the Italian incel community.
Even within the field of linguistics, most research has focused on
lexical cues of gender-based violence, highlighting how antifeminist
ideology is constructed through specific terminology among incels
(Bogetić 2023), or made visible through collocation patterns (Krendel
et al. 2023). Nevertheless, as Kwarteng et al. (2022) concluded in
their study of online misogynoir, automated hate speech detection
through lexical items is insufficient to address covert or
intersectional forms of misogyny, emphasising the need for
contextualised pragmatic analyses. Krendel (2023), through an analysis
of speech acts in alleged self-help posts from the manosphere group
r/TheRedPill, aptly showed how the frequency of face-threatening
speech acts made the community less supportive than the overt lexicon
of self-help and personal improvement might otherwise suggest.
As noted by Colliver (2024), little attention has been paid to the
discourse and experience of online violence against trans people.
While research in this area remains limited, two key aspects of online
discourse can be mentioned: the role of algorithmic recommendations
and the impact of content moderation. Focusing on algorithmic
recommender functions, Baker et al. (2024) demonstrated that
transphobic content is frequently recommended to boys and young men on
Youtube and TikTok. Regarding content moderation, Are & Gerrard (2024)
argued that TikTok’s policies toward trans users’ content can
perpetuate harm through censoring and flagging trans’ users posts as
potentially offensive, effectively constituting an act of violence.
While originally rooted in the grievances of "angry white men" (Kimmel
2013), the (neo-)manosphere and its anti-gender ideology are now
conveyed and promoted by diverse audiences: white incels represent a
minority of the incel.is users (Gerrand et al. 2025), while
researchers also note the emerging "black manosphere" (Awwal 2024;
Procope Bell 2024) and promotion of misogyny and hegemonic masculinity
within online gay spaces (Leeder 2024). Women themselves, either as
"tradwives" influencers, ‘pink pilled’ anti-feminist activists or
femcels can also engage with and produce misogynistic discourses
(Bauer 2024; Anastasi 2022). This diversity requires researchers to
pay close attention to the specific characteristics of the group under
discussion - including their linguistic characteristics, preferred
topics, and intended audiences - and consider how these elements
contribute to diverse manifestations of online gender-based violence.
As mentioned above, recent developments in technology are also leading
to other forms of gender-based violence discourse online, particularly
through the use of AI (Copley et al. 2025) and, more specifically, the
creation of deepfakes (Karagianni & Doh 2024). A discourse analysis of
online misogyny was carried out by Lee (2025), with a focus on mass
and social media discourses surrounding the 2024 'deepfake porn'
scandal in South Korea. Results showed that male-dominated online
communities were responsible for the construction of narratives that
place a strong emphasis on instances of male victimisation and the
subsequent attribution of blame to women.
Building on this literature, this international conference aims to
bring together linguists working on the interplay between online
discourse and gender-based violence, with a particular focus on the
latest developments in technology, transphobic discourse, and
discourse outside English-speaking communities, among other topics.
We invite papers on, but not limited to, the following themes:
 - non-English speaking communities
 - diversification of the participants
 - transphobic discourse
 - latest developments in technology
 - antifeminism
 - intersections in hate speech
In addition to paper presentations (20-minute presentation + 10-minute
Q&A), there will be a round table discussion dedicated to young
researchers working on these topics. A workshop will also be organised
to give those who wish to do so the opportunity to discuss the
emotional work that can arise from this type of research.
Practical Information:
Submission is to be done via a login on the conference website:
https://odgbv27.sciencesconf.org/
 - deadline: April 30th
 - format: Abstracts must be no longer than 500 words (excluding
references) and must be anonymous.
 - languages: English and French (if you decide to present in French,
we encourage you to have support material in English)



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