A latest global survey carried out across 22 countries has revealed that girls and young women are one of the biggest targets of online violence and abuse. Ahead of International Day of Girl Child 2020, a survey conducted by Plan International, a Non- Government Organization (NGO) working for children’s rights and equality for girls in India, shows than more than half (58%) women has faced online harassment or abuse.

The survey, titled “State of the World’s Girls Report”, involved 14,000 women aged 15-25 from 22 countries including India, Brazil, Nigeria, Spain, Australia, Japan, Thailand and the United States. It shows that one in five girls (19%) have left or significantly reduced use of a social media platform after being harassed, while another one in ten (12%) have changed the way they express themselves. Attacks were most common on Facebook, where 39% of girls polled said they had been harassed, followed by Instagram (23%), WhatsApp (14%), Snapchat (10%), Twitter (9%) and TikTok (6%).

The proportion of affected ladies was related to various areas across the globe. “In Europe 63 per cent of girls reported harassment, followed by 60 per cent of girls in Latin America, 58 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region, 54 per cent in Africa, and 52% in North America,” the report discovered. Ranging from threats of sexual violence to racist feedback and stalking, on-line harassment of younger ladies was directed in several manners. Of the women who’ve been harassed, 47% have been threatened with bodily or sexual violence, whereas 59 per cent confronted abusive and insulting language on-line.

A lot of ladies from minority and LGBTQ+ communities stated they have been harassed due to their identities. “While 11 per cent of the surveyed girls were harassed by a current or former intimate partner, 21 per cent pointed towards friends and 23% knew their harassers from school or work,” it said. Thirty-six per cent of the respondents said they were harassed by strangers and 32% by anonymous social media users.

“Girls are being silenced with a toxic level of harassment. They were often targeted particularly vicious people, including activists campaigning on gender equality and LGBT + issues, and their lives and families were threatened, “Anne-Birgitree Albrechtsen, Chief Executive of Planning International. “Girls driving from the online space are extremely frustrating in a growing digital world, and hurts their ability to see, hear and be leaders,” he said.