Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has recently warned that online harassment and abuse against women and girls is spreading at an alarming rate and could lead to real-world violence.
In a message posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Mr. Guterres wrote that violence against women and girls must be stopped at all levels and called on countries to act in unity to put an end to this trend.
In part of his message, he emphasized that hate speech in cyberspace can lead to violence in the real world.
The UN Secretary-General also stressed the urgent need to seriously combat online hate speech and warned that the growth of digital violence could have serious social and security consequences.
Meanwhile, online harassment of women has increased worldwide in recent years and has turned into a major social and security crisis.
This warning by Antonio Guterres about the rise in online violence against women and girls comes as the current government, after taking control of Afghanistan, has deprived women and girls of education and schooling. In its latest restriction, it has closed the doors of medical institutes to girls and women, even though Afghanistan’s healthcare sector is facing a severe shortage of personnel.
These actions by the current authorities have resulted in millions of schoolgirl students being deprived of education.
In addition, women have been banned from going to sports clubs, restaurants, public bathhouses, being examined by male doctors, traveling without a male guardian (mahram), working in domestic and international non-governmental organizations, and even from working in United Nations offices in Afghanistan.
