Females are 27 times more likely than their male counterparts to experience online abuse. In fact, 73% of women have already been exposed to cyber bullying, according to the UN.

In an attempt to remedy the situation, Facebook has launched the Women’s Safety Global Roundtable in Kenya – a global campaign that addresses both online bullying of women and safety issues.

The initiative is the first of its kind and will soon be extended to other African countries, including Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania and Zambia. Efforts are also set to take place in Ireland, the Middle East, India and the US – all focused on addressing online harassment of women, according to a Daily Nation report.

Facebook’s head of global safety Antigone Davis says safety is among the core pillars of building online respect and honouring the cultural diversity of the social media platform, which now boasts some 1.6 billion users.

23 February 2016
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