For almost a full month, Brianna Wu has been one of several women who work in the gaming industry targeted by a members of a movement called #GamerGate. She has talked openly about this on her Twitter feed, where viewers can usually see some of these threats and harassing messages being delivered on a daily basis. The police became involved when death threats forced her to leave her home early last month.
Wu has been proactive in her responses from the very beginning, talking openly about her experiences to the media, refusing to be bullied into silence, and standing up for all of the women being harassed. She has even started a legal defense fund for women targeted by #GamerGate.
Her most recent effort against those behind the threatening messages, is to offer an $11,000 cash reward leading to the arrest of those responsible.
She followed this up with a list of the terms of the reward, which also outlined tiers or levels of how it would work, with the first arrest leading to the $11,000 reward, a second arrest leading to a reward level of $5500, and a third arrest with a reward of $2750. Much of the money behind the rewards comes from an anonymous donor, but the Wu family is contributing $1750 personally. It is clear that this is a very personal matter for Wu and her family, and they would like those behind the threats brought to justice. Not just for herself, but for all women in the industry who have experienced threats and harassment.
Published: Nov 5, 2014 03:26 pm