England defender Jess Carter says she did not want to leave her hotel room after receiving racist messages online during Euro 2025 for fear of encountering her abusers.

Earlier this month, Nigel Dewale, 60, pleaded guilty to sending abusive posts to 28-year-old Carter's TikTok account during the tournament, which defending champions England went on to win. The messages included a derogatory reference to Carter's race and suggested people with brown skin were "murderers" and "groomers".

The former Birmingham City and Chelsea centre-back also said she feels the abuse female players are dealing with "is getting worse". Carter, who now plays for Gotham FC in the National Women's Soccer League in the United States, said at the time she had to take a step back from social media because she had experienced "a lot of racial abuse" from the start of the tournament.

"I didn't want to leave the hotel in case those people who were saying those things where going to be in Switzerland with us," Carter told BBC Sport. "It was quite a scary time. It totally devalues you as a human being."

In an exclusive interview with BBC Sport, Carter said: Female players are being subjected to online sexism and homophobic abuse on a regular basis, adding: "We're just expected to put up with it". If players fail to speak up about abuse, "then people just think it's not an issue and you kind of have to suffer alone."

The women's game has always been "kind" and "open" but now players are starting to "hesitate about who you want to be" because of the worsening reaction on social media. American fans at Gotham FC have been "a lot more friendly" than those in England.

Police and social media companies have to work better together to combat online abuse. Carter made her England debut in 2017 and has 52 caps, and was also a member of the squad that won Euro 2022. But her tournament last year was blighted by the messages sent by Dewale, who was granted unconditional bail when he appeared at Blackburn Magistrates' Court on 9 January.

"It's probably the first time in my life where my confidence has been knocked hugely," Carter said. "I'm quite a confident person in everything but it's the first time I lacked in confidence on the pitch."

Carter is in the UK as Gotham are preparing to face Brazilian side SC Corinthians in the semi-finals of the inaugural Women's Champions Cup at Brentford Stadium on 28 January. She moved from nine-time Women's Super League champions Chelsea to the US in 2024 and has seen a big difference in how players are treated between the two nations.

While the fans who support the Lionesses and travel to watch games are "amazing", Carter said she has noticed supporters at Gotham are friendlier than in England. "In America they just seem to be so happy and so positive and tell you how great you are, even if you haven't done that good," she added. "My happiness comes before any form of football anymore, so whatever decision I make on where I'll play football will be based on where I think I'll be happiest for myself, my family."

Carter's team-mates rallied round her during Euro 2025 and the squad made the decision to stop the anti-racism gesture of taking a knee before matches when Carter spoke up as it was "clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism".

With the popularity of women's football growing, Carter said the idea that the sport is a free space for people to be who they want to be is starting to recede. "You're starting to hesitate about who you want to be - and that's not what we want," she said. "We want it to be family-friendly still. We want great rivalries, but the abuse doesn't need to come with it. But that's just got worse, specifically with the Lionesses."

"The profiles are getting huge now. Every player should feel comfortable walking around the street and being whoever they want to be, and it's getting to a place where a lot of people don't feel that kind of comfort any more." Carter said she has not been following Dewale's case closely but has helped police out wherever she can.

Magistrates adjourned the case until 25 March for pre-sentence reports and warned Dewale all sentencing options were open, including prison. She praised the social media companies, who have been "really amazing", for their help in trying to tackle online abuse but Carter is unsure how the issue could be completely eradicated.

"What I have learned from all of this is, the criteria for what the police class as going over the line versus what some social media companies believe has crossed the line is a little bit different," she said. "Where the police might want to interfere and do something about it, if social media companies aren't willing to give up that information, or if they don't feel like it's breached their criteria, then the police can't do anything about it. The police and social media companies can work together a little bit more to be on the same page there."