Misogyny rules: Charlotte Church sheds light on “horrifying” torrent of abuse she received over Farage tweet

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Misogyny rules: Charlotte Church sheds light on “horrifying” torrent of abuse she received over Farage tweet

By Hayley Spencer

9 years ago

A staunch supporter of the Remain campaign, Charlotte Church was among the many celebrities who voiced their opinions on social media in the wake of the news that 52% of Britons had voted to leave the European Union on 23 June, and subsequently about Nigel Farage's announcement that he would be resigning as leader of the Ukip party on Monday.

After Farage stated that his political ambition had been achieved and he now “wants [his] life back," Church vented her anger with an expletive tweet. She wrote on Monday "I want my fucking European Union back you piece of shit!!!!!!"

For voicing her opinions strongly, the singer and campaigner has faced a backlash of abusive replies from other users, many of which have now been deleted.

However, the 30-year-old was fast to retweet some of the most abhorrent replies she received, targeting her sex, intelligence and heritage as reasons she shouldn't be so outspoken about her political views.

One response stated:

While another wrote:

Unsurprisingly, Church went on to tweet about her shock at the "level and type of abuse" she had received. She later took to Facebook with a post outlining her regret at the strength of language used in anger against Farage but lamenting the "horrifying" abuse she had received and explaining that she would be reporting them to the police.

Even after posting her statement to Facebook, she's continued to be bombarded with jaw-droppingly sexist comments, including the particularly petty suggestion that she has her "knickers in a twist."

As Church says, this is a divisive time, and Twitter is a vacuum for trolling, but receiving backlash that has made her feels unsafe and compelled to seek help from the police is in no way OK. Especially when we bear in mind the lack of personal criticism her male peers have received for airing opinions equally as strong and expletive-filled. As one tweeter aptly observed of this tweet by Ewan McGregor:

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