According to the creators of a new Australian study, the harassment of women online is at risk of becoming “an established norm in our digital society”, with the vulnerability ratio is high for women under the age of 30.

In the research conducted by the digital security firm Norton, nearly half the 1000 respondents agreed to have had experienced some form of online abuse or harassment. The incidence was 76% amongst the women under 30.

Every, one in seven, and one in four women aged under 30 had received threats of physical violence. And, one in ten women under 30 had reportedly experienced revenge porn and/or sextortion.

They are harassed by trolling, cyberbullying, and unwanted contact, sexual harassment, threats of rape and murder, etc.

The sample size of the online survey was 1053 women of Australia aged 18 and over in February 2016.

One of the research findings also suggested that women received twice as many death threats and threats of sexual violence as men.

One out of every four lesbian, bisexual and transgender women who had suffered severe online harassment affirmed that their sexual orientation had been the target. Moreover, some harassment cases attacked a woman’s physical appearance.

The researchers also found out that women believe that online abuse is growing and a matter of concern, but they feel powerless to take action against it by themselves.

Most women who were surveyed felt that the police needed to start taking victims seriously.

However, 38% of those who had experienced online harassment chose to ignore it, and only 10% reported it to the police.

Don’t you think, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media networks need to improve the privacy settings and devise systems that can curb harassment and track the attackers in case of harassment?

Thankfully, in February, Twitter announced a renewed push to tackle abuse and threats made on the network. Also, Facebook has launched a tool to offer support to users perceived to be at risk of suicide.