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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">GIRLS GET EQUAL PLEDGE – SIGN ON AT:</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">
<a href="https://plan-international.org/girls-get-equal-pledge-custom">https://plan-international.org/girls-get-equal-pledge-custom</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align:center"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Girls everywhere are undervalued, undermined and underestimated. But we’re calling time on inequality.<br>
<b>We are done with being silenced and ignored.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align:center"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Until you can see and hear us equally in positions of power. In governments and parliaments. As CEOs and leaders. In our classrooms and our homes.<br>
<b>We will not be stopped.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">With every action we take we are creating a new world, with new rules.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
Where we have power in all decisions affecting our lives. Where we are safe to speak up without fear and harassment. Where the world stops promoting stereotypes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align:center"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">This is a movement for us all. This is how Girls Get Equal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><a href="https://plan-international.org/node/15589/">https://plan-international.org/node/15589/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Girls' Freedom Online Is Under Attack<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Compared to their male peers, girls online are facing more threats of sexual violence, more comments about their appearance and behaviour, and are more
often told not to speak out and have an opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Girls’ freedom, voice, and agency online is under attack.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Violence against girls online is a growing issue. As an increasing share of our lives are spent online, we’re also seeing harassment and abuse take new
forms in the online space. Plan International’s research shows that just as in the offline world, harassment and bullying online is gendered. While many young people struggle with the pressures of social media, compared to their male peers, girls online are
facing more threats of sexual violence, more comments about their appearance and behaviour, and are more often told not to speak out and have an opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Violence and harassment are being used, both incidentally and strategically, to silence the voices of girls and women, and to limit their engagement in
political debates online. This activity mirrors concerning behaviours towards women negotiating political spaces. In a recent global survey it was found that almost half of women in politics
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/19/almost-half-of-women-in-politics-have-faced-abuse-or-violence" target="_blank">
<span style="color:#0072CE;text-decoration:none">have faced serious abuse</span></a>, including threats of murder, rape and assault. One fifth said they had been subjected to sexual violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">In addition, in 2016, FRIDA reported that over half of 1500 young women, girl and trans-led organisations they interviewed
<a href="https://youngfeministfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Global-State-of-Young-Feminist-Organizing.pdf" target="_blank">
<span style="color:#0072CE;text-decoration:none">regularly felt unsafe</span></a> because of the work they do. So, we are seeing that for those girls and women who take on political leadership responsibility, or who challenge the status quo, there are significant
threats – different in nature, and higher in prevalence, than those faced by men.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black;text-transform:uppercase">Girls’ freedom, voice, and agency online is under attack<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">For girls, navigating the online world brings with it these threats and more. The statistics are alarming. In Sweden, one of the most gender equal countries
in the world, over half of all girls’ online report having been <a href="http://childhood.se/varannan-tjej-femton-ar-sexkontaktad-pa-natet/" target="_blank">
<span style="color:#0072CE;text-decoration:none">contacted for a sexual purpose</span></a> by someone they think is an adult. In neighbouring Norway, 16-year-old girls are most at risk: 40% report
<a href="http://www.barnogmedier2016.no/seksualitet" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0072CE;text-decoration:none">unwanted sexual attention online</span></a> over the past year.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Only 13% of boys report the same. While global data on girls’ experiences online is scarce, experiences of women suggest the problem is global: 45% of
women in Kampala and 21% of women in Nairobi have been <a href="http://webfoundation.org/docs/2015/10/womens-rights-online_Report.pdf" target="_blank">
<span style="color:#0072CE;text-decoration:none">harassed or threatened online</span></a>; seven out of ten 18-24 year old women who use the internet daily have been subject to online abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#E17800">Responding to gender-based violence online needs to be about making the internet a safe space – we need to reclaim the internet for girls.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#E17800"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">The threats that girls and young women face when navigating the online space are real. However, our response must not be to limit girls’ online voice,
agency and freedom – protection should not mean exclusion. We must approach the question of digital safety, access and voice not simply from an individual, one-to-one perspective, but also in light of the internet being a core social structure, and a crucial
platform for active citizenship and voice. If we do not support young people to exercise their voice and agency online, we risk weakening the civil society of future generations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Already, of children interviewed across 60 countries,
<a href="https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/sites/default/files/documents/children_speak_out_research_summary_logo_high.pdf" target="_blank">
<span style="color:#0072CE;text-decoration:none">only 34% felt safe expressing their views</span></a> in public and only 38% felt safe attending public protests and demonstrations. Responses to ensure girls’ safety and freedom online as well as their access
and use of digital platforms must address the question of girls’ right to have a voice, both online and off.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Plan International’s new global campaign,
<a href="https://plan-international.org/girls-get-equal" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0072CE;text-decoration:none">Girls Get Equal</span></a>, is about ensuring every girl and young woman has power over her own life and can shape the world around her. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Girls also need to get equal online. The online space is not subject to the same scrutiny of ‘real-life’ public spaces, nor are legislative frameworks
as strong. This leaves children and young people vulnerable to violence and harassment, in a world from which they should not be expected simply to disengage. Much like the response to violence against girls and women in public spaces should not be to restrict
their freedom of movement, responding to gender-based violence online needs to be about making the internet a safe space – we need to reclaim the internet for girls.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0D0D0D;text-transform:uppercase">Everyone has a role to play<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Governments need to strengthen legislation and increase cooperation to ensure perpetrators of violence online are held to account. The tech industry needs
to take clear actions to ensure that social media is safe for children and young people, implementing strong reporting mechanisms and responding to reports of violence or abuse sensitively and efficiently.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Educational institutions all over need to ensure children know their rights and responsibilities online, and understand how to stay safe, and how to report
violence and abuse. Children and youth also need better education on human rights and gender-based violence – for instance through citizenship education, or comprehensive sexuality education. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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