Labour MP Jess Phillips has revealed that five women have told her they will stop posting their views online because of the "vitriol, sexism and misogyny they face every time they speak".
In her blog 'Shut Up Bitch - Get Back To Ironing Your Husband's Socks', published on the Huffington Post UK on Thursday, Phillips gives a disturbing insight into the extent that women are being "silenced" online.
Her comments come as Yvette Cooper calls for women to "reclaim the internet" amid increasing levels of "persistent, co-ordinated abuse" directed against women.
Phillips writes: "In the last couple of weeks I have spoken to five different young women who told me they were going to stop posting blogs and tweeting about their politics and their views.
"Each one of them contacted me for support and advice about how to deal with the vitriol, sexism and misogyny they face every time they speak.
"The very first thing I said to every one of them was 'don't stop, whatever you do, don't let it silence you'."
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Her comments echo those of Cooper, who called for a sea change in views on the trolling of women similar to the debate around domestic violence 30 years ago.
Cooper said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The real concern is is that young women in particular end up feeling they have to censor themselves on social media because of the abuse they are going to get."
This abuse is "effectively a form of stalking or harassment", said Cooper.
The high-profile women who have been targeted online
