Officially announced just this week, the Games and Online Harassment Hotline is intended to provide support for those who have experienced abuse and harassment within the game industry.
The Games and Online Harassment Hotline was formally unveiled during a Games for Change panel and will be launched on August 3.
The creation of this new online harassment hotline was made possible through the actions of several high-profile members of today’s gaming community.
What they did was band together to organize a text-based hotline, which should offer emotional support for all those who produce and play video games, especially those who have been negatively impacted by abuse and harassment within the industry.
2019 roots
As noted by Kotaku, the idea for the Games and Online Harassment Hotline began last year, just as the #MeToo movement started to find its way to the gaming community.
Game development companies and gaming conventions are far from being immune to the impact of sexism.
Sexism has long left countless victims in the game industry, but without support, those who were abused and harassed were too afraid to come out and speak about their experiences.
With the recent wave of accusations within the community dominating some headlines, it is now more important than ever for all gamers to unite against sexism’s ugly influence.
Support for the isolated
As stated in the Games and Online Harassment Hotline’s official website, one of the reasons that game industry bullies and abusers have been able to get away with their behavior is because the victimized often felt like they had nobody else to turn to.
This feeling of growing isolation among the victims have not only discouraged the abused and the harassed to air out their grievances but has also empowered the abusers to keep on doing what they’re doing because no one is calling them out for it.
For the Games and Online Harassment Hotline, one of the keys to stopping rampant abuse is to build a support network that can help those who are feeling isolated because of their bad experiences in the industry.
The new online harassment hotline should help build a foundation to provide that kind of emotional support.
On top of the emotional support, the hotline will also serve as a means for those abused to access resources or more information, not only about protecting themselves in the future but also about how to take legal action if they need to.
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