Abstract This study explores how Filipina English teachers experience and address sexual harassment on a South Korean online English Language Teaching (ELT) platform. The feminization of the ELT industry and the one-on-one nature of online tutoring make online teachers vulnerable to gender-based violence. However, little is known about how online harassment intersects with teachers’ language and professional identities. Drawing on narratives from three Filipina teachers, who are situated within intersecting vulnerabilities – including being women from the Global South and gig economy workers – the study analyzes how the teachers respond to sexual harassment. On the one hand, the teachers express strong negative emotions and promptly report incidents that undermine their professional authority. On the other hand, they often downplay sexual harassment by emotionally detaching or dismissing it as an aberration. This coping strategy entails teachers decoupling their gender identity from their professional roles. Based on the findings, this study calls for industry support and clear harassment policies to address gender-based violence on ELT platforms.
Cho et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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