Today is the United Nations General Assembly’s International Day of the Girl, a day set aside to honor girls’ rights and the specific problems they face around the world.
This year’s theme is online safety, as the United Nations and Plan International USA urge our national leaders to take steps to ensure that all girls have access to the internet and are safe while using it.
Since the commencement of the coronavirus, UN Women has documented a global increase in online abuse of women and girls.
Bullies and trolls have more time to target, harass, and intimidate people as they spend more time online for education, job, and socializing.
According to a recent Plan International survey of over 14,000 adolescent women and girls, 58 percent had encountered online harassment, such as abusive language and cyberbullying.
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It was also shown that 84% of women and girls believe that online harassment is only growing worse.
The internet is not just not the safest place for girls, but it is also not the most fair and egalitarian.
Girls are less likely than males to have access to the internet at home, to use and own devices, and to acquire access to tech-related skills and professions.
The first step toward making the internet a safer place is to educate people about the negative consequences of online violence and/or harassment.
Bullying, trolling, cyberstalking, defamation and hate speech, public shaming, revenge porn, identity theft, and hacking are all examples of online harassment.
Online harassment silences girls all around the world.
Women’s and girls’ violence is a human rights concern. Let’s use our combined voices to educate others, lobby for change, and make the internet a safer place on this International Day of the Girl.
