EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: Anita Sarkeesian is name that might not be immediately familiar to you, but for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of online gamers around the world, she's considered a pariah. Anita Sarkeesian is in Australia on a speaking tour. She's been trying to change the way the gaming industry depicts women.

Some gamers thought the best way to respond to claims that their favourite games were too violent and sexist was to create a violent and sexist game where you bash Anita Sarkeesian.

The guy who made that video, he's a troll. We're not talking about the cute and quirky doll type, but something quite a bit uglier than that. These digital trolls have been hunting female gamers like Anita Sarkeesian. She's been harassed and abused online, threatened with rape and death in the virtual world and then worried about her safety in the real world.

A survey last year by America's Pew Research Centre found 40 per cent of adults have been harassed online. The Australian Muslim lawyer Mariam Veiszadeh has been the victim of a trolling campaign so bad she fears for her life. Later this week, a Queensland woman will appear in court charged with harassing her. This is Mariam's story. Some of you may find it confronting.

MARIAM VEISZADEH, LAWYER & TROLLING VICTIM: I was born in Kabul, Afghanistan during the Soviet war and we came to Australia when I was seven years old. We were granted asylum under the special humanitarian program at the time. I became aware about the singlet through social media, actually. And, at the time, it appeared that this singlet was being sold by Woolies at a store at Cairns. So I went to Twitter and I basically just tweeted that I felt outraged that Woolies were allegedly selling what seemed like a bigoted message on a singlet carrying the Australian flag at their Cairns store. The sentiments I shared that day on Twitter were expressed by hundreds, if not thousands of other people, but it seemed that people took offence to the remarks that I made it.

KARL STEFANOVIC, TODAY SHOW HOST: Woolworths is in hot water over a T-shirt sold in store with the phrase, "If you don't like it, leave". The shirt sparked a social media backlash with Woolies quick to pull the singlets from its shelves, but Sydney radio host Ray Hadley doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.

RAY HADLEY, 2GB RADIO HOST: What's the big deal? It's not offensive, "If you don't like it, leave it." I mean, what's the problem?

MARIAM VEISZADEH: There was one particular repeat offender who was a young Queensland woman who'd sent me an absolute barrage of abuse on my Facebook page. There was something like 20 to 30 messages. So these were in addition to private messages that she sent me. I then started a very lengthy process with the police to investigate and see what could be done about it, and after a while, she was eventually charged for using a carriage service to harass and menace and cause offence. I have unfortunately been on the receiving end of death threats that have come my way. It is rattling, but as I said, I am determined to keep fighting against it.

INTERNET TROLL (male voiceover): "Watch your back, sand n**gger ..."

INTERNET TROLL II (male voiceover): "As I slit her terrorist-supporting throat"

INTERNET TROLL III (male voiceover): "Leave now before we behead your mother ..."

INTERNET TROLL IV (male voiceover): "Filthy Afghani bitch"

MARIAM VEISZADEH: The most recent social media abuse that I've received was sparked by a neo-Nazi group or a website based in the US. They published an incredibly vile article devoting a great deal of attention to me, urging their allegedly 5,000 followers to send me as many hateful, religiously-motivated, offensive tweets as possible. And, really, their stated objective is to silence me and to get me off Twitter. ...

... The months of ongoing cyber bullying has definitely taken a personal toll and I'd be lying if I suggested that it hadn't. It has affected my physical and my mental health. But in saying that, it's also made me even more determined than ever to continue to fight it and to ensure that I expose it for what it is. The hashtag #I stand with Mariam was started by my friend Ruth and has taken off and has been trending across Australia. The support has been absolutely overwhelming. The outpour of support and love that's come my way as a result has been extremely heart-warming. I must say that I can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel, but I'm not delusional and I know that it's going to be a very long journey. But I think what makes this task even more difficult is when people in positions of power seek to peddle people's prejudices rather than challenge them. So it's very important that people in positions of power, whether they're politicians or media commentators, don't seek to damage the social cohesion of this nation.

EMMA ALBERICI: And John Stewart was the producer on that story.