Women bear brunt of online abuse as world goes digital in pandemic

Girls as young as eight have also been subject to abuse, with one in five young women quitting or reducing their use of social media, according to a recent survey by girls' rights group Plan International. Photo: 123rf.com

Women bear the brunt of digital abuse - threatened with rape and exploited for porn - as the coronavirus pandemic drives ever more people online, media experts said on Wednesday.

Through salacious claims and viral memes, Brazilian journalist Patricia Campos Mello said she has repeatedly faced attack online for reporting on the Brazil government's handling of the Covid-19 crisis.