Rimmel are working to stamp out cyberbullying

We’ve had some very distressing conversations with a surprising number of friends recently whose daughters have been affected by cyberbullying. The internet offers bullies a place to hide – and as many of us learn as we grow older, bullies are almost invariably cowards. It’s therefore the perfect, toxic environment for people who are generally troubled themselves to attack other people for anything that’s supposedly ‘different’ about them, whether it’s the colour of their skin, hair, freckles, disability, whatever.

So we applaud Rimmel for trying to tackle this subject with their #IWILLNOTBEDELETED campaign, which has kicked off with a film about young women who’ve experienced ‘beauty cyberbullying’. Among others, it features Rita Ora, Cara Delevingne, Tess Daly, UK model Eden and American-Kuwaiti blogger-slash-model-slash-fashion designer Ascia Al Faraj.

Rimmel’s research shows that 1 in 4 women have experienced cyberbullying – and 57% of them suffer in silence. Almost half of them go on to self-harm, or to develop some kind of eating disorder, or perhaps numb the pain via drugs or alcohol.

We had begun to think that we were living in a world which now celebrates diversity (at least, within these islands) – but ‘anti-social media’ is making us question that.

So: watch the film here. Share it with young women you know. Spread the word. Bullying is hateful, whether it’s in cyberspace or on terra firma. It’s not an easy subject – so well done, Rimmel, for trying to do something about it.

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