The majority of girls and young women around the world experience harassment online, according to an international study published on Oct 5.

The Plan International children’s rights organisation said 58% of the 14,000 girls and young women it surveyed reported personal experiences of online harassment on social media platforms.

There were some regional differences in the results, with 63% of respondents in Europe reporting online abuse, followed by 60% of girls in Latin America, 58% in the Asia-Pacific region, 54% in Africa and 52% in North America.

Of the girls who have been harassed very frequently, 19% said they use the social media platform less as a result and 12% stopped using it altogether.

Most harassment occurs on Facebook, followed by Instagram and WhatsApp, according to the research, which was billed as the largest ever global survey on online violence.

“Rather than free and empowered to express themselves online, girls are all too often harassed, abused and driven from online spaces,” Plan International chief executive Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen said, introducing the report.

She pointed to the global pandemic, which is causing children to spend more time at home and on the Internet. Close to 700 million girls are currently out of school.

Girls and young women campaigning online for gender equality are said to be the targets of particularly vicious attacks.

The charity called on technology companies and governments to get tougher on the perpetrators of online abuse.

 - dpa