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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

‘Fear of missing out’ keeping girls and young women online despite sexism

A girl lying on her back looking at a smartphone obscuring her face
More than a third of respondents aged 11 to 21 said they were seeing sexual images they didn’t wish to see. Photograph: Robin Utrecht/Rex/Shutterstock

Girls and young women are seeing more unwanted sexual images and suffering more cyberstalking online, but still don’t want to take a break from social media because of a fear of missing out, a survey for Girlguiding has found.

“Fomo” is keeping more than half of 11- to 21-year-olds on apps such as TikTok, Snapchat and WhatsApp despite nearly one in five saying they have been being stalked online and more than a third saying they are seeing sexual images they didn’t wish to see, the survey of more than 2,000 girls and young women found.

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