"Monitoring data indicate that in 2021 there were a total of 119 attacks against women journalists and/or gender attacks involving media professionals. Hence, it means that, on average, an attack occurred every three days. A striking aspect is the importance of gender: among the 119 cases, 38% were classified as gender attacks. These records mainly included attacks on the morals and reputation of female journalists (32 cases) and homophobic (8) and transphobic (1) attacks. There were also two cases of physical violence against women journalists and two online attacks motivated by gender-related news coverage. The appeal to gender and sexuality is not incidental: in societies with conservative values, this type of attack is a way of undermining the credibility of professional journalism and diverting attention from the news content. Instead of discussing the reported facts, the journalist’s legitimacy and authority to investigate and disseminate stories are discussed. In fact, it is no coincidence that the terms most used in insults to professionals refer to gender aspects – slut, whore, gossipy – and supposed ideological biases of journalists – militant, leftist, and communist, among others." (Executive summary)