1 in 5 Spanish women suffer online abuse: study

APD NEWS

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One in five Spaniard women have suffered online abuse or persecution of some kind, according to a study published Monday by the human rights organization, Amnesty International.

The study was carried out as part of an investigation into the experiences of women internet users between the ages of 18 and 55 in Spain, Britain, Italy, Poland, the United States, Denmark and Sweden.

Spain was actually below the average of 23 percent of all of the respondents who had suffered abuse, with the lowest percentage (16 percent) in Italy and the highest (33 percent) in the United States.

"The Internet can be a terrible and toxic place for women and it is no secret that misogyny and abuse prosper on social network platforms," explained Azmina Dhordia, technology and human rights investigator for Amnesty.

She explained that the speed at which insults can multiply online was a unique problem, as a person could receive an avalanche of insults over a very short period of time.

A total of 27 percent of the insults in Spain included threats of physical or sexual aggression, while 64 percent included racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia, and 51 percent of respondents said they had suffered stress, anxiety and panic attacks as a consequence.

Meanwhile, there was a clear feeling among respondents that authorities are not doing enough to deal with the issue with 22 percent of Spanish women who had suffered online abuse saying they felt the police response was "inadequate."

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)