#Safe to Surf: Young People Speak To Education As a Vaccine On Their Experiences Using online Spaces

Education as a Vaccine asked young people to share their experience on using the online platforms and if they have experienced any form of online gender based violence. Here are some responses:

I started on Twitter and then moved to Facebook and Instagram. The tweet I made was:

“I don’t think seeking permission from one’s husband before going out makes any sense. Informing your spouse that you’re going out should be enough, of course with information about the place and time and with whom, for safety reasons. If there’s a reason your partner doesn’t want you to go to a certain place after informing them, y’all can talk about it and come to a reasonable decision.”

Minutes after this, my Twitter mentions blew up with people telling me that I was being sacrilegious because Islam says as women, we have to seek permission from our husbands before going anywhere at all. I was called names like Kaafir (an unbeliever), and some people messaged me directly telling me that I am teaching young MUSLIM girls how to be disrespectful to their husbands and that my father raised me as a LovePeddler. This went on for almost two days. Some people made screenshots and posted my Tweets on Instagram and Facebook.

My parents saw this and were extremely scared for me as some people were making violent threats in their comments. They even promised to pay anyone who would provide them with my personal information.

At first, I felt defeated, and I absolutely stopped tweeting or sharing my opinion for a while. However, I decided that I would not let the trolls de-platform me. This made me have a very serious anxiety attack because of the violent threats I received and because my parents were extremely worried about my safety. ( Mai Lap 25 years)






Read more: https://frontlinenews.com.ng/safe-to-surf-young-people-speak-to-education-as-a-vaccine-on-their-experiences-using-online-spaces/