‘Not one woman less’: Thousands marched against femicide in Argentine’s capital

Online abuse is driving girls to quit social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with nearly 60 per cent&nbsp;experiencing harassment, a global study showed on Sunday.

One in five girls and young women has abandoned or cut down on using a social media platform after being targeted, with some saying harassment started when they were as young as eight, the survey by girls’ rights group Plan International showed.

“Girls are being silenced by a toxic level of harassment,” said the organisation’s chief executive, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/twitter-failing-women-as-online-abuse-flourishes-says-amnesty-36559">Twitter failing women as online abuse flourishes, says Amnesty</a>

Attacks were most common on Facebook, where 39 per cent&nbsp;of girls polled said they had been harassed, followed by Instagram (23 per cent), WhatsApp (14 per cent), Snapchat (10 per cent), Twitter (9 per cent) and TikTok (6 per cent).

The charity, which will share the report with social media companies and lawmakers around the world, said the abuse was suppressing girls’ voices at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was increasing the importance of communicating online.

It called on social media companies to take urgent action to address the issue and urged governments to pass laws to deal with online harassment.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/web-is-not-working-for-women-girls-internet-founder-285988">Web is not working for women, girls: Internet founder</a>

The study found reporting tools were ineffective in stopping the abuse, which included explicit messages, pornographic photos and cyberstalking.

Nearly half of girls targeted had been threatened with physical or sexual violence, according to the poll. Many said the abuse took a mental toll, and a quarter felt physically unsafe.

“It is time for this to stop. Girls should not have to put up with behaviour online which would be criminal on the streets,” the report said.

Facebook and Instagram said they used artificial intelligence to look for bullying content, constantly monitored users’ reports of abuse and always removed rape threats.

Twitter said it also used technology to catch abusive content and has launched tools to improve users’ control over their conversations.

The survey polled 14,000 girls and young women aged 15 to 25 in 22 countries including Brazil, India, Nigeria, Spain, Thailand and the United States.

Online abuse is driving girls to quit social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with nearly 60 per cent experiencing harassment, a global study showed on Sunday.

Online abuse is driving girls to quit social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with nearly 60 per cent experiencing harassment, a global study showed on Sunday. One in five girls and young women has abandoned or cut down on using a social media platform after being targeted, with some saying harassment started when they were as young as eight, the survey by girls’ rights group Plan International showed. “Girls are being silenced by a toxic level of harassment,” said the organisation’s chief executive, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen. Also read: Twitter failing women as online abuse flourishes, says Amnesty Attacks were most common on Facebook, where 39 per cent of girls polled said they had been harassed, followed by Instagram (23 per cent), WhatsApp (14 per cent), Snapchat (10 per cent), Twitter (9 per cent) and TikTok (6 per cent). The charity, which will share the report with social media companies and lawmakers around the world, said the abuse was suppressing girls’ voices at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was increasing the importance of communicating online. It called on social media companies to take urgent action to address the issue and urged governments to pass laws to deal with online harassment. Also read: Web is not working for women, girls: Internet founder The study found reporting tools were ineffective in stopping the abuse, which included explicit messages, pornographic photos and cyberstalking. Nearly half of girls targeted had been threatened with physical or sexual violence, according to the poll. Many said the abuse took a mental toll, and a quarter felt physically unsafe. “It is time for this to stop. Girls should not have to put up with behaviour online which would be criminal on the streets,” the report said. Facebook and Instagram said they used artificial intelligence to look for bullying content, constantly monitored users’ reports of abuse and always removed rape threats. Twitter said it also used technology to catch abusive content and has launched tools to improve users’ control over their conversations. The survey polled 14,000 girls and young women aged 15 to 25 in 22 countries including Brazil, India, Nigeria, Spain, Thailand and the United States.

'Toxic': Online violence against women 'flourishing'; driving them away from social media

The pink coloured Economic Survey document tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament today recommended that India must confront the societal metapreference for a son, observing that the adverse sex ratio of females to males has led to 63 million &quot;missing&quot; women.

The colour of this year&#39;s survey cover was chosen as a symbol of support for the growing movement to end violence against women, which spans continents.

Laying special emphasis on gender development, the Survey cautioned that on several indicators, notably employment, use of reversible contraception, and son preference, India has some distance to traverse despite the country&#39;s economic progress.

The Survey states that just as India has committed to moving up the ranks in Ease of Doing Business indicators, a similar commitment should be endeavoured on the gender front.

The percentage of working women has declined over time from 36 per cent being employed in 2005-06 to 24 per cent of women employed in 2015-16, pointed out the Survey.

It acknowledges that Government&#39;s &#39;Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao&#39; and &#39;Sukanya Samridhi Yojana&#39; schemes, and mandatory maternity leave rules are all steps in the right direction, pointing out that measures such as increasing maternity leave will offer support to women in the workforce.

Given these observations, the states and all stakeholders have an important role to play in increasing opportunities available for women in education and employment, it said.

As per the Survey, nearly 47 per cent of women do not use any contraception, and of those who do, less than a third use female-controlled reversible contraception.

The Survey highlighted another phenomenon of son metapreference which involves parents adopting fertility &quot;stopping rules&quot; &nbsp;having children until the desired number of sons are born.

&quot;This metapreference leads naturally to the notional category of &#39;unwanted&#39; girls which is estimated at over 21 million,&quot; says the Survey.

Consigning these odious categories to history soon should be society&#39;s objective, opines the Survey. It also provides an assessment of India&#39;s performance on gender outcomes relative to other economies.

However, the Survey noted an improvement in average levels of 12 out of 17 variables in India over time. While 62.3 per cent of women in India were involved in decisions about their own health in 2005-06, the number increased to 74.5 per cent in 2015-16.

The percentage of women who did not experience physical or emotional violence also increased from 63 per cent to 71 per cent, whereas the median age at first childbirth also increased by 1.3 years over ten years.

The Survey noted that the North-Eastern states have been consistently outperforming others on the development parameters related to women, while hinterland states are lagging behind.

However, surprisingly, some southern states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu fare worse than expected given their level of development, it said.

The colour of this year's survey cover was chosen as a symbol of support for the growing movement to end violence against women, which spans continents

The pink coloured Economic Survey document tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament today recommended that India must confront the societal metapreference for a son, observing that the adverse sex ratio of females to males has led to 63 million "missing" women. The colour of this year's survey cover was chosen as a symbol of support for the growing movement to end violence against women, which spans continents. Laying special emphasis on gender development, the Survey cautioned that on several indicators, notably employment, use of reversible contraception, and son preference, India has some distance to traverse despite the country's economic progress. The Survey states that just as India has committed to moving up the ranks in Ease of Doing Business indicators, a similar commitment should be endeavoured on the gender front. The percentage of working women has declined over time from 36 per cent being employed in 2005-06 to 24 per cent of women employed in 2015-16, pointed out the Survey. It acknowledges that Government's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' and 'Sukanya Samridhi Yojana' schemes, and mandatory maternity leave rules are all steps in the right direction, pointing out that measures such as increasing maternity leave will offer support to women in the workforce. Given these observations, the states and all stakeholders have an important role to play in increasing opportunities available for women in education and employment, it said. As per the Survey, nearly 47 per cent of women do not use any contraception, and of those who do, less than a third use female-controlled reversible contraception. The Survey highlighted another phenomenon of son metapreference which involves parents adopting fertility "stopping rules" having children until the desired number of sons are born. "This metapreference leads naturally to the notional category of 'unwanted' girls which is estimated at over 21 million," says the Survey. Consigning these odious categories to history soon should be society's objective, opines the Survey. It also provides an assessment of India's performance on gender outcomes relative to other economies. However, the Survey noted an improvement in average levels of 12 out of 17 variables in India over time. While 62.3 per cent of women in India were involved in decisions about their own health in 2005-06, the number increased to 74.5 per cent in 2015-16. The percentage of women who did not experience physical or emotional violence also increased from 63 per cent to 71 per cent, whereas the median age at first childbirth also increased by 1.3 years over ten years. The Survey noted that the North-Eastern states have been consistently outperforming others on the development parameters related to women, while hinterland states are lagging behind. However, surprisingly, some southern states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu fare worse than expected given their level of development, it said.

Economic survey turns pink; asks Indians to confront son preference