Name and shame

Name and shame describes a tactic sometimes used against harassers, in cases of Sexual assault, etc. It is most often used when official channels are unlikely to be (or have already proven themselves not to be) sympathetic or responsive.

Naming and shaming means posting the name of a harasser so that the wider community is aware of their action, in the hopes that this will "shame" them. This may, in theory, result in repercussions on the person's employment, education, or social status. However, due to the widespread acceptance of misogynist behaviour, rape, etc in our broadly sexist culture (see: Rape culture), sometimes there is little apparent effect at all. Even worse, Victim blaming often turns the fault around and leads to greater harassment and abuse of the namer-and-shamer.

When people choose not to name and shame, they may be pressured to do so by people who aren't aware of the victim-blaming dynamic, or who are concern trolling and claim that they can't believe accusations of harassment without specific detail being given. Victims of harassment, sexual assault, etc, should never be pressured to take any particular course of action. It is important to acknowledge their Agency and let them make their own decisions.

The situation is also complicated when the harassers are members of law enforcement. The same sort of aggression behind racial profiling, or the provocation of protesters at rallies, is taken to cyberspace in a form of cyber-bullying. Also, nobody can assist you in identifying who is doing it because that would technically mean an obstruction of justice charge for them, should they tip you off about an investigation.

Incidents

• Wiscon troll incident -- a woman named Rachel Moss was identified as the harasser, and her university notified of her behaviour, which was in contravention of their policies.
• Noirin Shirley ApacheCon incident -- named and shamed Florian Leibert, a Twitter employee, for sexual assault.
• Australian author and radio presenter Marieke Hardy tweeted, "I name and shame my 'anonymous' Internet bully'", linking to a post where she identifies him as Melbourne man Joshua Meggit. See: Marieke Hardy name-and-shame incident

See also

• Reporting harassment
• Websites that identify harassers