Around the world, 1 in 4 women have experienced online abuse, and in New Zealand, it’s nearly a third.

This International Women’s Day, Amnesty International New Zealand has created The Sound of Unity – an initiative that encourages people to speak up and call a stop to online abuse.

The silencing effect of online harassment and abuse is stark. Of all the women surveyed* who reported experiencing online abuse, 76% of them changed the way they use online platforms. That’s why Amnesty International launched She’s Brave: to support women and encourage social media owners to take action.

The Sound of Unity is an audio and visual icon made to help silence online abuse. It can be used as an alert tone that’s heard every time you receive a notification as well as a symbol of our fight to end online abuse. With your help, the Sound of Unity will quickly become the ‘audio badge’ for She’s Brave.

Meg de Ronde, Campaigns Director at Amnesty International New Zealand, says, “When we join together, we’re powerful. The Sound of Unity is a way for people around the world to show solidarity, to speak up in the face of abuse instead of looking the other way, and to encourage social media platforms to tackle this injustice. On International Women’s Day, you can join us and amplify the voices of women who are being silenced.”

The sound itself comes from the ancient Solfeggio scale. These tones produce specific frequencies that have been discovered to impact our mood and emotions. The frequency of the alert tone, ‘Re’ (417HZ), is said to undo negative situations and facilitate change.

To support the She’s Brave movement, Amnesty International is asking your readers and listeners to download the $2.39 alert tone here, and post this animated GIF (an alternative to a dislike button) on social feeds – to call a stop to any abusive behavior that’s occurring.

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