Littlejohn was sent off during Crystal Palace’s League Cup victory over Leicester City on Sunday after a second-half altercation with Hannah Cain.
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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 suspension for violent conduct was “clearly insufficient” and that it can apply for an extended sanction if a case is “truly exceptional”.
Speaking before the Republic of Ireland’s closed-door friendly with Hungary in Spain on Saturday, Ward said “the avalanche of abuse” directed at Littlejohn on social media “has been a disgrace”.
“She’s a human being. She’s someone’s daughter and sister. It’s not right,” said Ward, who also managed Littlejohn at Aston Villa and Birmingham City.
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“I look at Ruesha and it’s not just because I have a long-standing relationship with her; some of the things I’ve seen this week have been disgusting.”
In a passionate response to the impact of the abuse on social media, Ward referenced how she had lost two close friends in women’s football.
While working at Sheffield United, Ward managed Maddy Cusack, who died aged 27 in 2023, and met former Liverpool manager Matt Beard, who took his own life in September.
“When do we learn that hitting people doesn’t end well? When do we start to learn?” Ward added.
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“He was close to Maddy and we lost Maddy. He was close to Beardy and we lost him. I’m sick of seeing him. I’m sick of seeing people being insulted.”
Ward added that social media was “getting worse and worse” and he didn’t know how to fix the problem.
“I just hope that when my daughter grows up it disappears. I think it’s a vile place,” he added.
“I don’t know, organizations need to help and social media (businesses) need to get better. Do I think this is going to go away? No, I think it’s only going to get worse.”
‘I regret letting my emotions run wild’
Littlejohn, who spoke alongside Ward at the press conference, said he was “sorry” about the incident with Welsh international Cain and that his emotions boiled over on the pitch.
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The midfielder had until Thursday to respond to the accusation of violent conduct presented by the FA and will know the result of the disciplinary hearing in the coming days.
“Obviously I regret letting my emotions spill out on the field. I’m a pretty emotional person and player,” she said.
“That’s not what I want it to be on the field, so I’ll learn from it and move on.
“Obviously I’ve been working with my team and I hope that everything is resolved properly and fairly, but I can’t say much about that at this time. I don’t want to damage the process.”
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Littlejohn added that she was grateful to be able to take up international duty after the match and had done her best to avoid social media and comments about the incident.
“I’m surrounded by good people here,” she added. “They have helped me through a difficult week and it is good 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 reached out to me. It’s been nice and I’ve stayed off social media.
“It can be difficult because it comes strong and fast. But I have a strong character, a strong person and I am surrounded by a strong team, so we will be fine.”
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Ward added that Littlejohn is someone he has “admired” during their time working together and is “someone who wears his heart on his sleeve.”
“She has acknowledged that it was a moment she deeply regrets,” Ward said.
“Look, we’re not talking about defending the incident here. We’re talking about what’s next and we need to do more to protect the players.
“They are human beings and they need care.”