A Sheffield student supporting a police campaign against online abuse says it's as serious as a real-life attack. She received explicit messages and felt 'betrayed'. Police recorded 3,018 incidents in 2023.
Renee says many people do not realise online abuse is as serious as an attack in person. A Sheffield student who is supporting a police campaign highlighting the dangers of online abuse has said she 'almost felt like it was my fault' when she received explicit messages. Renee, not her real name, said she felt 'betrayed' when she was sent explicit messages from one boy, and another asked her to send graphic photos when she was in secondary school. She told the BBC: 'I was really taken aback.
I felt like I'd done everything right, I wasn't messaging strangers, I wasn't posting inappropriate stuff and I was really young.' South Yorkshire Police said in 2023 it recorded 3,018 incidents of online abuse against women and girls including threats, harassment and stalking. Assistant Ch Con Hayley Barnett said the force was trying to raise awareness so that people realise certain abusive messages and posts are a crime.'This is no less serious than when somebody is being threatened in the street or is subject to stalking in the street. 'When it's online, it can be even more invasive into that person's personal life because it is so far reaching.' Renee joined the campaign with South Yorkshire Police after seeing the impact of online abuse on her friends as well as herself.'Why am I making myself seem like someone that would be allowed to be spoken to like that?If you are affected by the issues in this story, support is available via the'I think people recognise these behaviours when they take place in the street or in a nightclub,' she said.'It is no less serious when it is taking place online so I think we need to get that message across.' A survey by the charity Refuge found that 36% of women in the UK have experienced online abuse or harassment on social media or another online platform.'The worst thing is that people don't realise how wrong it is.'If it's a crime if it was in a bar, why would it not be if someone is saying it on your own phone, in your bedroom?
ONLINE ABUSE WOMEN's SAFETY POLICE CAMPAIGN SOUTH YORKSHIRE MENTAL HEALTH
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