Awareness vital to stop online harassment of girls

Implementation of existing laws and widespread awareness is crucial to prevent sexual harassment against women and girls online, said rights-based civil society members today.

They made the call at a virtual press conference organised by the National Committee for International Rural Women's Day Observation, ahead of International Day of Rural Women tomorrow.

Speakers at the press conference said girls and women are constantly harassed on the internet and it is increasing day by day due to the lack of minimum knowledge about internet security.

They urged the use of various government 'help desks' for legal assistance in this regard.

Tamanna Rahman presented the keynote on behalf of the organisers at the press conference while it was chaired by Shamima Akhtar, chairman of the International Rural Women's Day Observation National Committee.

The press conference was moderated by Ferdous Ara Rumi of COAST Foundation. National Committee members Karim Box (Sirajganj), Manju Ara Parveen (Khulna), Md Enamul Haque (Jamlpur), Khondokar Faruque Ahmed (Mymensingh), Syeda Shamima Sultana (Dhaka). Mahin Khan (Manikganj), Mustafa Kamal Akanda (IRWD-Secretariat ) and others also spoke.

In her keynote, Tamanna highlighted the escalating online harassment as information technology usage grows in the country. Recent research by the NGO Aio O Shalish Kendro (ASK) revealed over 36 percent of girls experience sexual harassment from male friends online, 27 percent from known adults or relatives, and 18 percent from unknown adults.

A global survey indicates that 58 percent of women on social media have faced some form of harassment. One in five victims' resort to suicide.

Facebook is the most common platform for harassment, with 39 percent of girls targeted there, ollowed by 23 percent on Instagram, 14 percent on WhatsApp, and 9 percent on X (formerlyTwitter), as per a study by Plan International, which interviewed 14,000 adolescents, and women from 22 countries.

Manju Ara Parveen said, "We should be especially careful when making friends with someone on Facebook or any other social media platform.."

Syeda Shamima Sultana said, "Personal information and photos should not be shared with anyone."