{{Short description|Informal network of women sharing warnings about abusive men}} A '''whisper network''' is an informal chain of information passed privately between people, typically women. It consists of gossip about people in a community (frequently a professional community) alleged to be sexual harassers or abusers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/women-believe-other-women?s=webapp|title=Here's Why So Many Women Knew The Rumors About Harvey Weinstein|work=BuzzFeed|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/what-whisper-network-sexual-misconduct-allegations-719009|title=What is a whisper network? How women are taking down bad men in the #MeToo age|date=2017-11-22|work=Newsweek|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/business/sexual-harassment-whisper-network.html|title=Women's Whisper Network Raises Its Voice|last1=Creswell|first1=Julie|date=2017-11-04|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-01-27|last2=Hsu|first2=Tiffany|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/yale-sexual-assault-allegations-2018-1|title=Women at Yale say they developed a secret way to protect themselves from dangerous men because the school keeps failing them|work=Business Insider|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en}}</ref> The information is often shared between women by word of mouth or online in private communities, forums, spreadsheets, and crowd-sourced documents.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://fortune.com/2018/01/12/shitty-media-men-me-too/|title=Like It or Not, Lists of 'Shitty Men' Are Going to Keep Circulating|work=Fortune|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-whisper-network-after-harvey-weinstein-and-shitty-media-men|title=The Whisper Network After Harvey Weinstein and "Shitty Media Men"|last=Tolentino|first=Jia|author-link=Jia Tolentino |date=2017-10-14|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en|issn=0028-792X}}</ref> The stated purpose of maintaining these lists is to warn potential victims of "people to avoid" in their industry.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/1/11/16877966/shitty-media-men-list-explained|title=The "Shitty Media Men" list, explained|work=Vox|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref> Whisper networks also purportedly help victims identify a common abuser and come forward together about a serial abuser.
The term "whisper network" was newly popularized during the #MeToo movement<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/01/harpers-the-whisper-network-and-the-megaphone/550163/|title=The Harper's Controversy: The Whisper Network Meets the Megaphone|last=Garber|first=Megan|work=The Atlantic|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/brown-hehr-me-too-analysis-wherry-1.4503839|title=What happens when #MeToo comes to Parliament Hill|work=CBC News|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en}}</ref> after several private lists were published outside of private networks. Among the published lists were the Shitty Media Men list,<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/technology/2018/01/can-women-experiencing-sexual-harassment-safely-take-their-whisper|title=Can women experiencing sexual harassment safely take their whisper networks online?|website=www.newstatesman.com|date=11 January 2018 |language=en|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref> the California State Capitol list,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article186983518.html|title='We have rapists in this building': Women say sexual abuse isn't reported at California Capitol|last=Chance|first=Alexei Koseff And Amy|date=2017-11-28|work=The Sacramento Bee|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en-US|issn=0890-5738}}</ref> and the Harvey Weinstein Google doc.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/13/sexual-harassment-shitty-media-men-list-examples|title=The Shitty Media Men list and other ways women can report misconduct|last=Quinlan|first=Casey|date=2018-01-13|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/first-person/2017/10/16/16482800/harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-workplace|title=It's time to weaponize the "whisper network"|work=Vox|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref> Karen Kelsky created a less controversial list about men in academia called "Sexual Harassment In the Academy: A Crowdsourced Survey" which had grown to over 2000 entries by the end of 2017. It includes stories without actually naming the accusing and accused parties.<ref name=":2" /> Kelsky said she hoped the list would help demonstrate the scope of sexual misconduct in the academic field,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> and it has resulted in the investigation of twelve men at the University of Michigan.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.michigandaily.com/section/academics/whisper-network-university-michigan-academics-logged-sexual-misconduct-database|title=Whisper Network: a dozen University cases logged in sexual misconduct database|work=The Michigan Daily|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en}}</ref>
== Alternatives == Publishing whisper networks to the public has been widely criticized for spreading unsubstantiated rumors that can damage reputations.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/post-weinstein-new-apps-aim-to-out-predators-before-they-become-serial-abusers-2018-01-24|title=These apps help victims of sexual harassment to file anonymous reports|last=Paul|first=Kari|work=MarketWatch|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en-US}}</ref> However, there continues to be debate on the best alternatives for women who have been punished or ignored by official channels to warn other women.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/katha-pollitt-on-second-wave-feminism-harassment-and-progress.html|title=How Second-Wave Feminism Inexplicably Became a Villain in the #MeToo Debate|last=Chotiner|first=Isaac|work=Slate Magazine|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en}}</ref> It has been noted that certain vulnerable groups, such as young women and women of color, rarely get access to these private lists. As a result, these groups rarely receive any protection from whisper networks unless they are published.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/there-is-a-whisper-network-in-politics-to-protect-young-women-it-has-to-end/article37734862/|title=There is a whisper network in politics. To protect young women, it has to end|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref>
The main problem with trying to protect more potential victims by publishing whisper networks is determining the best mechanism to verify allegations.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/10/18/how-whisper-networks-help-protect-women-harvey-weinsteins-world/759860001/|title=How 'whisper networks' help protect women from the Harvey Weinsteins of the world|work=USA TODAY|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en}}</ref> Some suggestions have included strengthening unions in vulnerable industries so workers can report directly to the union, maintaining industry hotlines which have the power to trigger third-party investigations, and creating public systems that allow anonymous reporting with the ability to connect victims who report the same perpetrator.<ref name=":5" />
Several apps have been developed which offer various ways for women to report alleged sexual misconduct, and some of these apps have the ability to connect victims with each other.<ref name=":6" /> This includes the app Lulu.
Are We Dating The Same Guy?, a set of Facebook groups for commenting on men, and DontDateHimGirl.com are other examples of online whisper networks.
Sex workers regularly share “bad date lists” and St. James Infirmary Clinic (which offers health and safety services for sex workers) created a “Bad Date” app that allows sex workers to anonymously log incidents and warn other sex workers about clients who have threatened, extorted, robbed, or been violent.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5104951/sex-workers-me-too-movement/|title='They Don't Want to Include Women Like Me.' Sex Workers Say They're Being Left Out of the #MeToo Movement|magazine=Time|language=en|access-date=2018-03-23}}</ref>
==See also== * Character assassination * Mobbing * Smear campaign * Whispering campaign
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Social information processing Category:Social influence Category:Social systems Category:Sexual misconduct allegations