Veronika Kracher - "Bitch Hunt - Warum wir es lieben, Frauen zu hassen". Lesung

In the summer of 2022, the hate campaign against actress Amber Heard revealed just how socially acceptable it is to mock victims of domestic violence—and how pervasive misogyny still is in our society. What used to take place in the sensationalist print media now happens online and in real time. A broad audience enthusiastically participates in hate and incitement against women—in some cases even uninhibitedly and under their full real names. Influencers whose content consists exclusively of attacks against women and queer people reach an audience of millions on social media. Digital platforms do not curb this hate, which is often directed at individuals—quite the contrary, because behind the hate often lies a system that generates profitable clicks.

In “Bitch Hunt,” Veronika Kracher analyzes the function of digital misogyny, the role misogynistic campaigns play in the right-wing culture war, and why social media so significantly amplifies everyday misogyny in a patriarchal society. Ultimately, it is not only those directly affected who suffer from these dynamics, but our democracy as well.

Veronika Kracher studied sociology and literature in Frankfurt and Mainz. She works as an author, journalist, and community engagement specialist. Since 2015, she has been focusing on the topics of digital misogyny, anti-feminism, online radicalization, and right-wing extremism. In 2020, she published the widely discussed book *Incels: History, Language, and Ideology of an Online Cult* with Ventil Verlag. From 2021 to 2024, Kracher worked at the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, conducting research and monitoring work on misogynistic and far-right online communities. “Bitch Hunt” is her second book.