Wellness With Her Club

Digital violence is often dismissed as “less serious” because it happens behind screens, through messages, comments, images, and anonymous accounts. But for women and girls, its impact is deeply embodied. The nervous system does not distinguish between a threat delivered in person and one delivered digitally. The body responds to fear, shame, humiliation, and intimidation the same way: immediately, instinctively, and physiologically.

On Day 3 of the 16 Days of Activism, Wellness With Her draws attention to how digital violence manifests in the body and why awareness, movement, and regulation are essential tools in protecting women’s health and safety.

When a woman experiences harassment online, receives a threatening message, or becomes the target of cyberstalking, the body activates its survival mechanisms. The heartbeat accelerates. Breath shortens. Shoulders lift. Muscles stiffen. Sleep becomes shallow. The stomach tightens. These are not imagined experiences; they are real, measurable responses rooted in the body’s attempt to keep her safe.

Digital violence can create cycles of hypervigilance;

• checking the phone repeatedly,

• anticipating harm,

• bracing for the next attack.

Over time, this can lead to anxiety, chronic stress, fatigue, and emotional withdrawal. Many women begin shrinking their online presence or silencing their voices, not because they lack courage, but because the body is trying to protect itself from further harm.

This is where embodied wellness becomes vital. Movement provides an accessible, realistic pathway back into safety. Small, consistent practices like micro body scans that help women name where tension sits; slow exhalations that calm the fight-or-flight response; shoulder rolls that soften protective bracing; grounded posture resets that reopen the chest and restore dignity, can interrupt the cycle of overwhelm.

These practices are not about fitness or performance. They are protective rituals that help women reclaim their bodies after digital harm. They strengthen emotional clarity, reduce stress, and support the nervous system’s ability to return to balance after digital disruptions.

By understanding how digital violence affects the body, women gain the power to intervene early, to notice, pause, regulate, and respond from a place of grounded awareness rather than fear. It is a reminder that digital safety is not only about online behaviour; it is deeply connected to physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

Today, we honour the body’s wisdom.

We validate its signals.

We recognise its resilience.

We restore its power through movement.

Digital violence is real. Its impact is real. And your body deserves protection, online and offline.