Croatian study reveals girls suffer twice as much online harassment as boys

A survey of about 4,200 youths and parents in Croatia, Spain and Portugal found that girls experience nearly double the rate of cyber‑bullying compared with boys, and one in three victims does not report the abuse. Only 1.5 % of young people trust schools, police or social‑care services for protection, while half of parents believe their children can handle online threats on their own. The findings were presented by gender‑equality ombudswoman Višnja Ljubičić at the bE‑SAFE conference.

Separately, cyber‑security experts warned parents in Croatia about the risks of sharing children’s photos online, especially as artificial‑intelligence tools can manipulate or fabricate images. Hannah Swirsky of the Internet Watch Foundation highlighted a surge in AI‑generated abusive content, and specialists advised limiting sharing to closed groups, using strict privacy settings on platforms such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, and discussing the dangers with family and friends.