According to global market researcher Ipsos, nearly one in two or 55 per cent of urban Indians are against online abuse of women and believe that they should not have to tolerate it. This is, however, lower than the global average.
The study says that more Indian women (58 per cent) than Indian men (52 per cent) believe women who are being bullied online. In fact, half of the participants in the survey regressively said that women “overreact” to online bullying and they should just ignore it.
Also, eight in 10 global citizens (78 per cent), polled by Ipsos as part of a 30-country survey, strongly agreed that women should not have to tolerate abuse. Indians, on the other hand, are rather divided in half, with one in two (55 per cent) holding this perception.
Ipsos had surveyed 20,524 adults aged 18-74 in the United States, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa, and Turkey, aged 21-74 in Singapore, and 16-74 in 24 other countries between January 21 and February 4, 2022.
Nearly one in three global citizens (35 per cent) believe that women must ignore online abuse—exactly how women are taught to ignore men catcalling on the streets. Out of the global citizens who said women should stand up against online abuse, 35 per cent blamed men for online abuse. On the other hand, as high as 47 per cent of urban Indians who participated in the survey did the same.
Unfortunately, one in three of those surveyed globally said women tend to “overreact” to things that are said to them online. With cyberbullying, sexual harassment and apps that put unsuspecting women up on sale, people are shockingly still polarised when it comes to women standing up against online abuse.
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