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Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward says abuse directed towards midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn has been "disgusting" and a "disgrace".
Littlejohn was sent off during Crystal Palace's League Cup win over Leicester City on Sunday after a second-half altercation with Hannah Cain.
The 35-year-old appeared to grab Cain by the neck and the players fell to the ground.
The Football Association said its standard three-match ban for violent conduct was "clearly insufficient", and it can seek an extended punishment if a case is "truly exceptional".
Speaking before the Republic of Ireland's behind-closed-doors friendly with Hungary in Spain on Saturday, Ward said "the outpouring of abuse" directed towards Littlejohn on social media "has been a disgrace".
"She is a human being. She's someone's daughter and sister. It's not OK," said Ward, who also managed Littlejohn at Aston Villa and Birmingham City.
"I look at Ruesha and it's not just because I've got a long-standing relationship with her - some of the stuff I've seen this week has been disgusting."
In a passionate response to the impact of abuse on social media, Ward referenced how she had lost two close friends in the women's game.
While working at Sheffield United, Ward managed Maddy Cusack, who died aged 27 in 2023, and she knew former Liverpool manager Matt Beard, who took his own life in September.
"When do we learn that battering people doesn't end well? At what point do we start learning?" Ward added.
"I was close to Maddy, and we lost Maddy. I was close to Beardy and we lost him. I'm sick of seeing it. I'm sick of seeing hurls of abuse at people."
Ward added social media was getting "worse and worse", and she did not know how the problem could be rectified.
"I just hope that when my daughter grows up it disappears. I think it is a vile place," she added.
"I don't know, organisations need to help and social media [companies] need to do better. Do I think it's going away? No, I think it's only going to get worse."
Littlejohn, who was speaking alongside Ward at the news conference, said she "regretted" the incident with Wales international Cain, and that her emotions overspilled on the pitch.
The midfielder had until Thursday to respond to the FA's charge of violent conduct and is set to discover the outcome of the disciplinary hearing in the coming days.
"Obviously I regret letting my emotions spill over on the pitch. I'm quite an emotional person and player," she said.
"That's not who I want to be on the pitch, so I will learn from it and move forward.
"Obviously I've been working with my team and hopefully it's all dealt with properly and it's fairly dealt with, but I can't say too much on that right now. I don't want to harm the process."
Littlejohn added she was thankful to head on international duty after the game and has done her best to avoid social media and commentary surrounding the incident.
"I'm surrounded by good people here," she added. "They have helped me through a tough week and it's nice to be back in green with the girls.
"I've had a lot of support. I've had a strong group of people behind me, so it's been good that a lot of them have checked in with me. That's been nice and I've just stayed off social media.
"It can be hard because it's coming thick and fast. But I'm a strong character, a strong person and I'm surrounded by a strong team, so we'll be okay."
Ward added Littlejohn is someone she has "admired" in their time working together and is "someone who wears her heart on her sleeve".
"She has acknowledged it was a moment that she deeply regrets," said Ward.
"Look, we're not talking about defending the incident here. We're talking about what follows and we need to do more to protect players.
"They are human beings and they need looking after."
