The 33-year-old actress, presenter and comedian gets flashed at hundreds of times a day - not in the street, but online.
"I'm nervous about going public about all this because I put bikini photos up on Instagram, I talk about sex in my shows and I'm very cheeky and flirty," she says. "There will be people saying, 'But you asked for this negative attention, what do you expect?'Emily has always used humour as a defence mechanism to make light of the messages, but she says it's not funny anymore.
"I checked my emails - zero, received nothing back," she says. "These men spend their lives bombarding me with abuse and saying the most horrific things and then the second I respond and say, 'Well I want to hear from you, let's talk' - nothing.Image source,Emily's mum, the comedian Kate Robbins, says the messages make her worry about her daughter's safety
To try to understand more about the characteristics of these people, Emily directly messaged two men who regularly send her explicit content to ask them why. One blocked Emily immediately after reading Emily's message, while the other replied blaming her - saying he was trying to get her attention and his messages were due to her "reputation".
Prof Jane Monckton-Smith's research focuses on the prevention of homicide - acts that lead to the death of another person. She says patterns of violence against women escalate from something seemingly small to serious sexual assault. Because of this, she recommends always reporting online abuse to the police so the individual's name is put on record.
In 2021, Emily gave a speech in Parliament sharing her experience of abuse - and the Online Safety Bill includes a new cyber flashing offence that will carry a maximum prison sentence of two years. The bill was approved by MPs last week and will now go through the Lords.Online safety campaigner Seyi Akiwowo says although the law can help, education plays a key role, as well as changing societal norms.
"Everything is focused on the woman and her behaviour and that is a massive thing that has got to change," she adds.
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