A pleasant night of blog-reading and hacking turned sad and distressed when I read Kathy Sierra’s account of the awful threats against her. Warning: this is a disturbing read. But it’s real life on the web everyday. And it’s not OK.

When I was in college, my girlfriend was an impassioned feminist. One of the events she participated in every year was called “Take Back the Night.” It was a nighttime walk through the city of Charlottesville, ending in a candlelight vigil. The message was simple and clear: women should be able to safely walk the streets of the city after dark; there are places where that’s not possible, and we’re not going to stand for that.

I don’t know how it translates exactly, but we need a movement like that for the web. We need to demand a safe space for women and call out, expose and expel people who dole out threats.