Paloma Brierley Newton is part of a new collective fighting for online harassment to be taken more seriously by police. It all started when her friend found out that her tinder profile was being shared along with sexist commentary and rape jokes. Online abuse and harassment of women is hardly unusual. What was unusual in this case, is that the girls went to the police.

“We had a usb with all the screenshots of the comments. The first thing she said to me is that she didn’t think they were real threats and you don’t need to be worried. The second thing she said was that she wasn’t sure how to handle it and would need to speak to her supervisor.”

The girls formed Sexual Violence Won’t Be Silenced, creating a petition and asking for better training for police and the creation of specific laws against online harassment and threats.

Photo: Sexual Violence Won’t Be Silenced