BTThe 2024 Girl’s Attitude Survey by Girlguiding has revealed the increasing extent of online harm and sexism faced by girls and young women. Over 2,500 participants, aged 7 to 21, shared insights into the challenges they encounter today, including online harm, sexism, appearance and wellbeing.
Key findings indicate that more girls and young women are experiencing online harm compared to previous years. Half of the respondents expressed that they would feel safer if online platforms removed harmful content, and 60% of girls aged 11-16 reported receiving negative comments about their appearance.
Online Harm
The survey highlights that an increasing number of young women and girls feel unsafe online, with 77% of those aged 7-21 experiencing online harm in the past year. These concerning figures reflect similar findings from Report Harmful Content, which saw a 31% increase in reports in 2023. Many participants expressed that they would feel safer if social media platforms took more action to remove harmful content, with responses finding that:
- 50% of girls stated that removing harmful online content would make them feel safer.
- 48% wanted reports and concerns to be taken more seriously by online platforms.
- 46% felt that stronger actions should be taken to address violence and abuse targeting women and girls online.
- 39% believed that simplifying privacy settings would help improve their online safety.
- 28% wanted clearer guidance on how to report harmful content online.
With online harms on the rise, the survey also revealed an increase in cyberstalking, the sharing of unwanted sexual images, and people impersonating others online.
Similar to the findings of the 2023 Cybersurvey, more than half of girls and young women aged 11-21 reported encountering sexist comments or jokes (53%) and hate speech (53%) online. Additionally, 57% of young women aged 17-21 know a girl their age who has experienced sexual harassment online.
Alarmingly, 59% of girls aged 11-21 expressed concern that artificial intelligence could be used to create fake images of them or impersonate them online, our Synthetic Media Hub explores how young people and adults can get support for AI and ‘deepfake’ impersonation attempts.
Sexism and Safety
Online spaces were identified as major areas where girls experience sexism. Among respondents, 73% of girls aged 11-16 and nearly all young women (84%) aged 17-21 reported encountering sexism online.
The report highlighted that girls from marginalised backgrounds, including LGBTQ+ and disabled girls, were more likely to face sexism. Alongside this, the survey found that sexism is contributing to a decline in girls' sense of safety. 47% of girls aged 11-21 said they feel less safe now, compared to just 17% in 2014, correlating with 59% of girls aged 13-21 reported having seen or experienced sexual harassment.
Appearance and Wellbeing
Concerns around appearance and wellbeing also emerged in the survey, particularly linked to online behaviours. Exposure to edited images has led many girls to feel pressured to change how they look. 36% of girls aged 11-21 felt pressure to use filters online, and 54% wished they looked like their filtered images on social media.
Regarding the use of filters, 81% of girls aged 11-21 stated that boys expect girls to look like the edited images they see online. However, 46% of girls felt they would have a better online experience if there were more unedited and realistic images of women, and 33% wanted to see fewer images that make them feel pressured to look a certain way.
Get Support Reporting Online Harms
With half of girls stating that removing harmful content online would make them feel safer, SWGfL’s Report Harmful Content provides practical advice and an impartial dispute resolution service to help ensure social media platforms take reports seriously. Anyone over the age of 13 can use the service to report harmful content and learn about community guidelines on social media platforms.
Schools and organisations looking to help users report harmful content they see online can add the Report Harmful Content Button to their websites. The Button enables users to quickly access expert advice and guides users through reporting harmful content, whilst ensuring further action if initial reports are unresolved.
