Mara Mariño: The Digital Voice Against Sexual Violence

In the crowded landscape of social media, Mara Mariño has carved out a unique and influential space. The Madrid-based sexologist, journalist, and feminist activist has transformed digital platforms into powerful tools for promoting gender equality in contemporary relationships.

With nearly 200,000 followers across her Instagram and TikTok accounts, Mariño has built a community centered on education, awareness, and the dismantling of patriarchal structures. Her content creation has not gone unnoticed—she was recently honored with the 2025 Menina Award by the Ministry of Equality for her significant contributions to the fight against machista violence.

Mariño's influence extends beyond short-form video content. She has compiled her most pressing insights into her first essay, #S3XPIDEMIA, published by Loto Azul Editorial in 2025. This work represents a significant evolution from her digital activism to more in-depth analysis.

The book tackles a critical contemporary issue: how modern technology and social media platforms are not merely reflecting but actively amplifying and perpetuating machista violence. Through this publication, Mariño moves from addressing symptoms to examining the systemic mechanisms that allow violence to thrive in digital spaces.

Her transition from content creator to published author demonstrates a commitment to creating lasting resources that go beyond the ephemeral nature of social media posts.

Mariño's work consistently challenges conventional thinking about sexual violence prevention. She has articulated a provocative stance on parental priorities, arguing that society often focuses on the wrong concerns.

Parents worry more about a false accusation than about giving their children an education that prevents them from becoming potential sexual aggressors.

This statement encapsulates a core theme in her advocacy: shifting the focus from fear of consequences to proactive education. Rather than centering discussions on the risks of false accusations, Mariño emphasizes the urgent need for comprehensive education that prevents the development of aggressive behaviors in the first place.

Her perspective invites a fundamental rethinking of how families and institutions approach sexual violence prevention, moving from reactive measures to proactive cultural change.

Through her research and content creation, Mariño identifies specific ways that technology exacerbates gender-based violence. Her analysis goes beyond surface-level observations to examine the structural elements that make digital spaces particularly dangerous for women and marginalized groups.

Key mechanisms she identifies include:

• Anonymity features that embolden harassers
• Algorithmic amplification of harmful content
• Perpetual accessibility that removes safe spaces
• Normalization of violent language and imagery

By documenting these patterns, Mariño provides both a diagnosis of the problem and a framework for understanding how digital violence operates differently from, yet intersects with, physical violence.

Mariño's approach combines accessibility with depth, making complex feminist theory understandable to broad audiences. Her content strategy balances viral appeal with substantive analysis, creating entry points for those new to feminist discourse while providing valuable insights for those already engaged.

Her work with the Ministry of Equality through the Menina Award recognizes not just her individual contributions but the model she represents: using digital platforms for social change rather than mere entertainment or personal branding.

Through her essays, videos, and public speaking, Mariño continues to build what she describes as a necessary cultural shift—one that prioritizes education, accountability, and the dismantling of patriarchal structures over fear-based approaches to social issues.

Mara Mariño's work represents a growing movement of digital activists who refuse to let technology be defined solely by its capacity for harm. By documenting how social media platforms perpetuate violence while simultaneously using those same platforms to fight it, she embodies a complex but necessary approach to contemporary feminism.

Her essay #S3XPIDEMIA and her ongoing digital activism offer a blueprint for how educators, activists, and content creators can leverage technology for positive social change. As discussions around digital safety and gender-based violence continue to evolve, Mariño's voice remains a crucial one—challenging us to think differently about prevention, education, and the role we all play in creating safer spaces, both online and off.