While the streets of the Netherlands may feel considerably safer for some internationals when it comes to sexual harassment, it seems that no one’s DM’s are safe.
In 2020, a whopping 750,000 people in the Netherlands were the victims of online sexual harassment, a study by CBS (Statistics Netherlands) has found.
This amounts to 5% of the Dutch population and can you guess who were the most badly affected — women! (Shocking!) In particular, young women between the ages of 16 and 18 suffered the most, accounting for 30% of the claims.
Coming in second place were women between the ages of 18-24, who made up to 24% of the claims.
Indeed, the study found that women were 1.5 times more likely to suffer online sexual harassment than men, with 6.7% of women surveyed saying they had been harassed online. This percentage was lower for men, standing at 4.1%.
Bisexual women and gay men badly harassed
The study also revealed that, of those within the LGBTQIA+ community, bisexual women and gay men suffered the most when it came to unsolicited DM suitors.
And what was it exactly that people were suffering? A lot of thirsty, desperate, and dirty-minded people it appears.
Unwanted nudes, videos and comments
Of those who took part in the survey, 2.1% had to deal with sexually offensive jokes or comments online, 2% were faced with unwanted nudes and sexually explicit videos, 1.8% had to deal with people insisting that they date them, and 1.6% were asked to send nude photos or videos. 🙄
Yikes. Are you shocked by these figures? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Feature Image: Daria Nepriakhina/Unsplash