Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2025, 26 (1): 59-84 | DOI: 10.13060/gav.2025.007

The Practices and Subjects of Feminist Digital Activism: Experiences from  Slovakia and Czechia

Veronika Valkovičová ORCID...a, Zuzana Maďarová ORCID...b
a Faculty of Education – Comenius University
b Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences – Comenius University

This study explores the developments of digital feminist activism in Slovakia and Czechia amidst rising anti-gender rhetoric and anti-NGOism. In the climate of polit-ical change over the past five years, women in both countries began using Instagram to raise awareness of gender-based violence, harassment, and sexism. Through interviews with digital activists, this research examines the online dynamics of these networked publics. It analyses activists’ strategies for navigating public/private boundaries and balancing individual and collective efforts in a corporate-controlled online space. Despite the challenges posed by Instagram’s influencer-driven structure, these activists use the platform to engage in feminist awareness-raising and advocacy. This study contributes to the scholarship on digital feminist movements by highlighting the potential and limitations of social media to foster new forms of feminist praxis in a hostile political environment.

Keywords: digital activism, gender-based violence, Instagram, networked publics, connec-tive action

Received: October 20, 2024; Revised: June 17, 2025; Accepted: June 20, 2025; Prepublished online: August 26, 2025; Published: August 31, 2025  Show citation

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Valkovičová, Veronika and Zuzana Maďarová. 2025. "The Practices and Subjects of Feminist Digital Activism: Experiences from  Slovakia and Czechia." Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 26(1):59-84.
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