One in 10 female gamers feel suicidal because of the abuse they face while gambling online, survey reveals | UK News

One in 10 women feel suicidal because of the abuse they face while gambling.

New research for Sky Broadband shows that of 4,000 female gamers surveyed, 49% experienced abuse or harassment when gaming or streaming online, rising to 75% among those aged 18-24 .

Harassment levels are so high that 25% of women surveyed admitted to feeling depressed, 40% felt personally threatened by the abuse they experienced online and 27% fear being assaulted in real life as a result of threats made on gaming platforms.

Renata Miranda Antelo plays every day and told Sky News the toxic culture is relentless.

“I think one of the most annoying things is when they ask you where you live, where you’re from, what’s your Instagram, how old are you, if you want to visit them in their country of origin,” she said.

“And it’s just a constant cycle of what’s your Instagram, what’s your Instagram? And then sometimes you don’t want to say anything back, then you don’t say anything at all, that’s what I hear a lot of people – they’re like, ‘Oh, just mute them or say nothing back’.”

“But it keeps going and it keeps going to the point where they then start swearing at you and then they start saying abuse because they don’t get the reaction they want from you.”

Steffy Evans is a streamer who uses TikTok to highlight the misogyny she faces online, posting videos in which men swear and threaten her.

She says she hopes to help others by exposing the reality of what women face when gaming.

“What I do with all of this is I bring light and stimulate and build the confidence of women to keep playing, to keep their mics on, to even respond to these guys,” said Ms Evans at Sky News. .

“Obviously if I could take it on a larger scale it would be to ban them permanently or have real consequences.”

“But there’s not much I can do, and that’s shine a light on what’s going on in the game and (encourage other women to) keep your confidence and speak up.”

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Guild, a David Beckham-backed esports team that competes against other teams online, is also taking action.

He launched an immersive campaign, to highlight the abuse faced by female players.

“The reality is that if this happened on a football pitch, you would have a referee who literally wanted to whistle and dismiss someone,” explained Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports.

“We can’t keep watching these numbers continue and these women continue to have this experience.”

“It’s about taking care of their mental health and making sure women feel like they can play and do what they love and feel very inclusive.”

The game is big business, expected to be worth over £279bn by 2026.

But as the industry continues to grow, it seems that progress is much slower and that real change is needed so that it is no longer a man’s world.