A survey that was carried out across 22 countries revealed that girls and young women are the ones who are the biggest targets of online violence and abuse.
This latest global survey carried out by UK-based humanitarian organization Plan International titled “State Of The World’s Girls Report”, involved 14,000 women aged 15-25 from 22 countries including India, Japan, Thailand, Nigeria, Spain, Australia, and the United States. The survey highlighted that 58 percent of the respondents accepted having faced online harassment or abuse on different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and WhatsApp. It was a survey conducted ahead of the International Day of Girl Child 2020 as it is on October 11. It was reported the percentage of the affected women for different regions around the globe was similar.
The report found that “In Europe, 63 percent of girls reported harassment, followed by 60 percent of girls in Latin America, 58 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, 54 percent in Africa, and 52 percent in North America.”
Ahead of the International Day of Girl Child 2020 on October 11, the survey highlighted that 58 percent of the respondents accepted having faced online harassment or abuse on different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, and TikTok.
The percentage of affected women was similar for different regions around the globe.
“In Europe, 63 percent of girls reported harassment, followed by 60 percent of girls in Latin America, 58 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, 54 percent in Africa, and 52 percent in North America,” the report found.
A large number of women from minority and LGBTQ+ communities said they were harassed because of their identities.
The survey conducted from April 1 to May 5 found out that “Of the girls who were harassed, 42 percent of the girls who identified themselves as LGBTIQ+; 14 percent who self-identified as having a disability; and 37 percent who identified themselves as from an ethnic minority said they get harassed because of it.”
It said that “while 11 percent of the surveyed girls were harassed by a current or former intimate partner, 21 percent pointed towards friends and 23 percent knew their harassers from school or work.”
Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, Plan International’s chief executive said that “Girls are being silenced by a toxic level of harassment. Activists, including those campaigning for gender equality and on LGBT+ issues, were often targeted particularly viciously, and their lives and families threatened.”
Being affected by the ill-treatment online, one in five girls that are 19 percent have left or significantly reduced use of a social media platform after being harassed, while another one in ten that is 12 percent have changed the way they express themselves.
It is a matter of concern that we need to pay heed on.
