Children and young people met MPs yesterday (Tuesday 30 June) to tell them how online abuse and harassment was affecting their everyday lives.
Around 30 young people told MPs at Westminster that the situation needed tackling – with one asking them to think about their own mothers, daughters and sisters when asking why this conversation needed to happen.
The Barnardo’s parliamentary reception was hosted as part of the charity’s Call It What It Is campaign, which revealed that online abuse and harassment is “constant, corrosive and deeply embedded” for young people in the UK. The charity polled 4,000 young people about their experiences with online misogyny and found that:
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A quarter of girls (25%) say that they’d been called degrading names online.
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More than half of boys (59%) say they believe they are expected to “act tough and show no emotion”.
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One in five boys (21%) also said their friends would not back them if they called out sexist comments and a majority (57%) of boys said that people would think they are “boring” if they don’t join in with the group’s ‘banter’.
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25% of all young people had seen a nude photo that had originally been sent privately and had been shared – while around one in seven (15%) 13- to 15-year-olds had been asked to share a nude photo of themselves.
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Almost one in five girls (18%) reported having received repeated messages after asking the sender to stop or ignoring them.
MPs had the opportunity to hear directly from children and young people about their experiences of misogyny. Young people also created art installations showing the misogynistic content and messages they encounter on their social media feeds, helping MPs better understand the scale and impact of the issue.
One of the young people, Ayo, aged 24, from Northern Ireland, shared with MPs how her personal experience with misogyny has motivated her to join the Barnardo’s campaign. She said:
“A lot of people hear the word misogyny and think of extreme examples, but often it's much more subtle than that. It's the comments that get brushed off as jokes, the assumptions people make about what women can or can't do, or the content that appears on someone's feed so often that they stop questioning it. That's why conversations like these matter.”
Krish, aged 20, from North West England, is another young person who supports the Barnardo’s campaign. Krish had a clear message for MPs, he said:
“The people in this room include some of Britain’s most successful men and women. From the Minister to the Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, to MPs and young people. But do you know what we all in this room also are? We’re people. We have families, mothers, daughters, sisters. So, when you hear our campaign and what we are calling for, think about them. Understand that this not just numbers and a policy call, it’s real people who are being harmed, when it can be stopped.”
Speaking to MPs, Lynn Perry, Barnardo’s chief executive said:
“Our Call It What It Is campaign grew directly from what we’d seen on the ground, particularly the impact of online misogyny, and from the insights shared by our young people here today.
“Misogyny isn’t always loud or visible, but our findings show how constant, corrosive and deeply embedded it is in the lives of young people today, be that online or in real life. It can shape how boys and girls think about themselves, their worth and their relationships with others. That’s why it is so important that children and young people have the opportunity to share their experiences directly with MPs. Their voices must be heard and be at the heart of this conversation.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Data
Censuswide Youth Survey
The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 4000 nationally representative UK Respondents, aged 13-20. The data was collected between 09/03/2026- 20/03/2026.
Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. We adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles
Full methodology, including sample size and weighting, available on request.
Barnardo’s Frontline Practitioner Survey:
Barnardo’s survey of our frontline practitioners working with children across the UK in Summer 2024. Based on 938 replies.
About Barnardo’s – Changing Childhoods, Changing Lives:
Barnardo’s has been helping children, young people and families to be safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful for more than 150 years.
Last year, the charity provided essential support to over 350,000 children, parents and carers through more than 650 services and partnerships across the UK.
This vital work is only possible thanks to Barnardo’s partners and supporters. Together, they’re bringing love, care and hope into children’s lives, so every child can feel like they belong.