UN Women calls on 1 million people to 'light a firefly' to end cyber violence against women

U.N. Women has launched a social media challenge worldwide asking 1 million people to stand against gender-based cyber violence, which disproportionately affects women and girls who suffer serious consequences as a result.

As part of its 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, U.N. Women has invited everyone to complete an interactive test about cyber violence at www.fireflies.digital, download a guide on how to combat violence and challenge their friends to join in to raise awareness. The United Nations' 16 Days of Activism begins on Nov. 25 and runs until Dec. 10, Human Rights Day.

Launched with the motto “Light a firefly and light the dark,” the campaign is expected to see support from celebrities and social media influencers across the world.

The project, the media partner of which is the Turkish Milliyet newspaper, is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

By clicking on the following links, you too can join and light up your screen to raise awareness:

https://www.instagram.com/ar/445577183124763/

https://www.facebook.com/fbcameraeffects/tryit/445577183124763/

Last year, U.N. Women created an interactive Turkey map to draw attention to the issue and asked people to place fireflies in areas they felt were unsafe. Municipalities used the results to make several improvements to ensure women felt safer. The campaign received a silver Effie Award.

Women and girls have been subjected to many forms of digital violence, such as physical threats, sexual harassment, stalking, cyberbullying and even zoombombing, when an uninvited person joins a Zoom meeting. This has been much worse during lockdowns, statistics have shown.