Girls need to be safe online, as well as in the streets (1)

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Girls need to be safe online, as well as in the
streets

• According to Plan Internationals research,
  cities are not safe places for girls and young
  women on the streets, on public transport and in
  most public spaces they are frequently made to
  feel uncomfortable, unsafe and intimidated, just
  because they are young and female.
• To combat this, we developed the Safer Cities
  for Girls programme, which focuses on increasing
  access and safety in public spaces, giving girls
  a voice when it comes to urban development and
  governance and increasing girls autonomy and
  mobility in the city.
• While we know that girls and young women are
  continually harassed on the streets, they are
  also faced with significant levels of harassment
  online. We carried out the largest ever survey on
  online violence involving 14,000 girls in 22
  countries which shows one in five (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. More than half (58)
  have been harassed or abused online.

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• Nineteen-year-old Kirti is one of Plan Indias
  Safer Cities for Girls youth leaders from the
  south-eastern region of Delhi.
• Kirti, who is currently studying via distance
  learning at the University of Delhi, has been an
  active participant and leader within the Safer
  Cities programme for a number of years. She
  represented the project in the 2020 World Urban
  Forum, held in Abu Dhabi, and has trained as a
  Champion of Change.
• She trains other girls on issues related to
  gender-based violence and what they can do to
  deal with sexual harassment in public spaces. I
  encourage them to share their problems and be
  fearless, Kirti says.
• Kirti also carries out safety audits of local
  neighbourhoods, before presenting recommendations
  to authorities and local government. She believes
  the Safer Cities programme has led to improved
  confidence and increased mobility among girls in
  my neighbourhood.
• But while girls are being given tools to tackle
  abuse in public spaces, when it comes to online
  harassment, reporting mechanisms are still not
  effective. The world needs to acknowledge this
  issue because it is posing serious concerns.
  Almost every girl is using smart phones and
  online applications, she says.

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• Kirti recalls a personal incident of online
  abuse. I created an account on Instagram and
  posted a picture. My picture was downloaded by a
  boy. He used my picture for his Instagram
  profile.
• I came to know about this. Instead of panicking,
  I reached out to my friends on Instagram and
  asked them to report this profile as fake to
  Instagram. He not only removed my pictures but
  also deleted the account. I was angry but dealt
  with it fearlessly.
• Kirti credits her training with the Safer Cities
  for Girls programme for helping her stand up for
  herself online, and for helping her feel a sense
  of community. Girls should not feel scared if
  they face any incident of online abuse, she
  says.
• Instead, learn about privacy settings and report
  to the Cyber Crime cell. We encourage girls to
  report and share. Together, we can deal with the
  issue.
• Kirti also has the following advice for social
  media companies I want to ask Facebook,
  Instagram and other social media platforms to
  provide high-security features for these apps to
  prevent unwanted people from commenting without
  our permission.

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• https//www.planindia.org/
• https//www.planindia.org/