Durban - Girl-on-girl hate and cyberbullying are on the rise -but singer-songwriter LeAnne Dlamini has made it her mission to change that.
According to dosomething.org, girls are almost twice as likely as boys to be both victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying.
Dlamini began her #EndGirlHate campaign on social media after she had been a victim of cyberbullying.
“I started the campaign because I saw a lot of hate in the entertainment industry. It wasn’t always outright but I would go to events and people would avoid each other. People I did not even know would send me nasty messages and some would go as far as to block me on social media. It was all very bizarre”, she said.
Dlamini said it was after a fellow celebrity started hating on her that she decided to start the campaign. “I think in the entertainment industry everyone thinks they are in competition with each other. A presenter thinks they are in competition with a singer, which isn’t the case. As young women we should be encouraging each other, not putting each other down”, she said.
Dlamini began by posting positive motivational messages on her social media pages.
“Everyone knows what #ManCrushMonday is and #WomanCrushWednesday is, so I decided instead of having #WCW, I should have #Woman4WomanWednesday, where I just start motivating young girls and women”.
It was her Woman4Woman hashtag which led to her #EndGirlHate campaign. “This campaign isn’t about me, it’s about every girl that has been bullied, every woman that’s been hated on or gets hated on because of who she is. It’s about raising awareness around this and showing women that it’s okay to be different, we all have different paths and should not be hating on someone else because their path is different to yours” she said.
“I follow a lot of women empowerment networks on social media and the stuff they post really encourages me in my life, so I just want to do the same, encourage others. The hate and the bullying really isn’t necessary,” Dlamini said.
She plans to form an #EndGirlGate network and take it from social media to schools and universities and even have a conference.
According to NoBullying.com, girls are often more secretive about bullying. “Girls may send intimidating emails from a fake account. Girls often bully in packs or groups. In doing this they will incite others in the group to bully. Girls will sometimes spread rumours about their victims and encourage others to spread them as well. They will purposely whisper in from of the victim in an effort to intimidate.”
Dlamini said that the best way to deal with a hater, was to ignore them “I find that simply ignoring a hater helps, if they are taking things to the extreme though and you feel the need to approach them, do so in a safe environment”.
Sunday Tribune