Last week, Rimmel London ran a global five-day anti-cyber beauty bullying campaign on the theme #IWillNotBeDeleted.

The aim was to stand up for the 55 million women – roughly one in every four – worldwide who experience beauty cyberbullying. After experiencing online beauty bullying, an estimated 22.8 million went on to self-harm either through substance abuse or eating disorders or cutting themselves.

The campaign showcased – through the posting of pictures and videos on social media pages, influencers and bloggers – real stories showing how beauty bullying happens in all walks of life.

According to a 2017 survey of 11,000 women aged 16 to 25 in 10 countries interviewed on behalf of Rimmel, the incidence of online beauty bullying is highest in the US (35 per cent), followed by Argentina (32 per cent), Australia (31 per cent) and the UK (28 per cent). China has one of the lowest incidences at 15 per cent. Twenty per cent of young men have also experienced it in the US, UK and Germany. Eleven per cent of young women bullied about their looks were bullied more than once a month.

Of those bullied, 73 per cent considered changing their appearance as a result, 65 per cent said it affected their confidence, 51 per cent stopped experimenting with their look, and 39 per cent stopped sharing images.

“Last year, 115 million images were deleted from social media due to cyber bullying,” said Ankita Sayal, global digital director, Rimmel London. “When we understood the scale of the problem, we felt it was time to give it a loud and clear voice that it is not OK to shame someone for the choice they have made to express themselves.”

Sara Wolverson, vice president of Rimmel Global Marketing, added: “Rimmel is against narrow definitions of beauty, people being shamed, judged and criticised because of their looks, and this behaviour manifests itself widely today in the form of beauty cyber bullying.”

Rimmel London is distributed locally by SV Beauty (a member of VJ Salomone Group of Companies).