Where We Stand: Gender, Language and the Politics of Hate
23 February 2026 | BELvue Museum, Brussels
Where We Stand: Gender, Language and the Politics of Hate is a one-day symposium organised as the closing event of the EU-funded CHASE project. The event examines how gendered hate is shaped through language, media systems and political discourse, and why this matters for democratic life in Europe.
Bringing together researchers, journalists, civil society organisations and policy experts, the symposium explores how misogyny and gender-based hostility move between online and offline spaces, how they become normalised, and how communities resist them. The programme connects academic research with frontline experience, focusing on the infrastructures that allow hate to spread and the social strategies that challenge it.
Keynote
The keynote address will be delivered by acclaimed journalist and MDIG board member Shada Islam, one of Europe’s most influential voices in public debate.
Speakers and Panels
Across six panels, speakers examine hate from multiple perspectives. Contributors include Debora Barletta, Tahmineh Tayebi, Hugo Mega, Jessica Gysel, James Bloodworth, Archibald Gustin, Eviane Leidig, Asha Allen, Ben Whitelaw, Thomas Hughes and Maria Koomen. Panels will be moderated by journalists Nabeelah Shabbir, Giada Santana and Eliza Gkritsi.
Themes
The symposium addresses:
- Linguistic structures of hate speech, cyberbullying and coded language
- Grassroots responses and community-led strategies for prevention and resilience
- The cultural mainstreaming of misogyny and the influence of the manosphere
- Pathways from online radicalisation to political discourse and technology-facilitated gender-based violence
- Platform responsibility and the limits of content moderation
- European regulation, civic responsibility and accountability
The event situates gendered hate within broader questions of power, representation and governance, asking how language both reflects and produces social harm.
Event Programme
Project Context
The symposium is the final public event of the CHASE project and was made possible with the support of the King Baudouin Foundation. It forms part of CHASE’s wider work on understanding and countering hate speech through research, policy engagement and civil society collaboration.
Registration
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJLme7CNmdr1-URNmdGOB4K5Rr9srfiorQnTf2Q8seTOYtRw/viewform
