“My sisters ran a business online without using photos because they were afraid of possible abuse and misuse of information. But after my participation in the training, I made them understand how we can share our information and photos following appropriate privacy settings. Now they are using photos to promote their online business.

I was afraid of being harassed on social media platforms. I was worried about what others would do if I shared my pictures on Facebook. People make rude and derogatory remarks at others, especially women, on social media platforms. Such comments hurt us and also discourage us from using social media. But after I took part in Search’s training, I am no longer afraid. My whole attitude to social media changed. The training made me aware of what steps to take if I face hate speech or any kind of harassment on social media and also to help others who become victims of similar harassment online. I shared with my family and friends what I learnt from the training.

We need digital and social media literacy for our education related purposes, to share information about our Young Women Leaders’ work with others, to promote a business or simply to communicate with friends and others. If you have been raised in a conservative setting, conforming to the social and cultural boundaries that your family and the elderly in your community set for you, the knowledge of social media tools can be a liberating experience. I learnt how to use social media positively without compromising my privacy and online safety. This training is crucial for young women like myself, particularly in the current pandemic situation.

In our country, cyber crimes don’t even get reported much. Men troll female social media influencers to gain followers. The training made me understand the gravity of the problem of harassment that women face on social media. Now I check social media accounts to identify any incidents of hate speech or harassment. Because I want to help women to counter and overcome such abuse.

The practical component at the end of our training required us to create a media product on hate speech online. All of us received mentoring support from an expert during the creation of the media piece. I made a video on gender equality by focusing on a Muslim reality TV show winner. I wanted to communicate how young women can be a change agent in their society. I sourced old footage and photos from different online sources. The idea here was to utilize what we learnt about digital advocacy and storytelling from the training for the creation of a media piece. I wanted to encourage other young women to be inspired by my story subject. The video communicates that women should not be discriminated against and we are an integral part of society. I also made a meme illustrating a woman’s course of action against hate speech. The idea was to encourage other women to follow likewise.

One of the elements that will outlast our actual training is We-gital SHEROES private Facebook group. The We-gital SHEROES group has given us a space to communicate with all 110 participants that underwent Search’s training. The We-gital SHEROES is a good place to share information among training participants from all four districts. Both my social media products were shared with others in the We-gital SHEroes group. I gain new knowledge reading and watching posts shared by other participants and I get to see media products created by other participants. I plan to use this group to test my future media creations on hate speech and other issues. I want to create awareness about issues and concerns of the youth in the Puttalam district.