When Ofcom reported that 96% of kids aged 3 to 17 were online in 2024, it confirmed what most parents and youth leaders already knew: the digital world is not any longer optional. It is the air our young people breathe. And while the web offers extraordinary opportunities for connection, learning, and creativity, it also harbours dangers that disproportionately goal girls and young women.
As Girls’ Brigade, we see either side of this reality day-after-day. Online platforms could be lifelines for young carers who cannot leave the home, or for those in rural areas where youth groups are out of reach. Digital spaces allow us to increase friendship, fellowship, and faith to those that might otherwise be isolated. But in addition they expose girls to relentless pressures, toxic role models, and gender based abuse that corrodes self price and mental health.
The statistics are chilling. Three-quarters of women and young women aged 7 to 21 report experiencing online harm. Reports of sextortion involving girls rose by a staggering 2,600% in 2024, with victims as young as 11. Some 81% of victims in over 7,000 offences of sexual communication with a baby were girls.
These will not be abstract numbers; they’re people. The statistics are Elise, a member of Girls’ Brigade who battled eating disorders and low self-esteem amplified by social media before finding strength in her faith. They are Caro, who wishes she had the support of Girls’ Brigade as a frightened teenager and is now a GB volunteer in order that others don’t need to undergo what she went through. They are countless people whose lives are shaped by the digital currents they can not easily escape.
We must name the issue clearly: misogyny has moved from the margins into the mainstream. Influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers openly devalue women and girls, and research shows that teenagers exposed to this content are five times more more likely to consider that hurting others is appropriate. This is just not only a cultural issue – it’s an ethical crisis and as Christians must concern us deeply – these will not be Kingdom values.
But there are things we will do …
So, what’s to be done? The simplistic advice to ‘just sign off’ doesn’t cut the mustard. For some young people, online engagement is just not a luxury, but a lifeline.
Education and awareness are key. At Girls’ Brigade, we run programmes akin to ‘Staying Safe within the Digital World’ where we explore questions akin to: What is truth? How do you realize whether the pictures and posts you see are real or whether or not they’ve been enhanced? We then contrast this with biblical truth. And, in fact, we teach them the right way to query: How do I do know whether that is real? How can I check? Teaching children and young people to transcend face value, consider carefully, and query more deeply is a critical life skill for 2025 and beyond.
Legislation should have teeth. The UK’s Online Safety Act rightly identifies harmful content, from pornography to self-harm instructions, as ‘Primary Priority.’ However, enforcement stays a challenge. Age verification is notoriously difficult. Tech firms should be held accountable for the content they host. Compassion, as Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, recently reminded us, should be built into the very architecture of the web.
Faith communities have an important role to play. Churches and Christian youth organisations must educate and advocate, in addition to provide protected spaces for young people.
It’s a missional priority for us as Christian communities to have open discussions about each the advantages and disadvantages of being online. It is hugely essential to confer with children and young people concerning the dangers of engaging with others online – they may think they’re talking to a different 12-year-old, but the truth is perhaps very different. It can be vital for them to grasp who they will contact in the event that they’re frightened about anything or experiencing anything they’re uncomfortable about.
Trusted adults – whether parents, teachers, or youth leaders – are indispensable. Sometimes children prefer to not confide in parents or teachers, because they’re frightened concerning the potential consequences. This emphasises the importance of trained, safely recruited volunteers in Christian Youth organisations like Girls’ Brigade and the crucial role they play. Not every child has a supportive family, but every child deserves someone who will listen, guide, and protect.
Limiting screen time and locking down devices so that you simply reduce the potential for people you don’t know from contacting your kids is a great idea, but this should be reinforced with education and awareness. People can all the time discover a method to goal those that are vulnerable, so counting on restriction alone is just not sufficient.
We all have to be role models and exercise good practice by taking regular breaks from our own devices and spend time doing healthy and spiritually nourishing things as a substitute.
As Girls’ Brigade, we see a fantastic opportunity to have interaction young people in pondering critically and faithfully about their digital lives – helping them to remain protected and be a positive influence on the world.
The digital age is here to remain. The query is whether or not we are going to allow it to erode the dignity of women and young women, or whether we are going to rise to the challenge of shaping it with compassion, wisdom, and faith. At The Girls’ Brigade England & Wales, we elect the latter. And we invite you to hitch us.
Judith Davey-Cole is CEO of The Girls’ Brigade England & Wales.
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