This month we’ve got some exciting news! Dota Valkyries will be working in collaboration with the Moderation Lead for The International to protect the women in the Dota community from harassment on Twitch. The Lead Mod himself, Spaniel, has highlighted the necessity of this collaboration:

"Having seen firsthand just how much harassment women in Dota have to go through in the public eye, I have some understanding of just how necessary an org like Dota Valkyries is to the health and future of Dota. I'm excited to be working alongside them to innovate better protections against online harassment for the women in the Dota scene."

As part of this collaboration, we will be having 3 tiers of Dota Valkyries presets made for use with ‘Ohbot’ that range from light to strict moderation. These presets will be provided to any Female Dota streamers who may need them. We will also be working on improving general moderation strategies for female talent at events in the future.

Spaniel is not only one of the Lead Mods for The International but also the Lead Mod for WePlay. He has already started having conversations with Dota talent about how moderation can be personalized and improved for each of them during the last major. Dota Valkyries Co-Founder Ruby has shared her thoughts on the collaboration:

"It's very important to us at Dota Valkyries that we challenge sexism within the Dota space wherever it rears its ugly head. Twitch streams are a huge part of the Dota world, and through this collaboration we're hoping to not only provide the best possible protections to female streamers and talent right now, but to begin conversations about how these protections can be improved looking to the future - everyone should be able to equally enjoy the full experience of Twitch!"