I belong to a generation that has experienced the most stunning technological transition in history. When I was five, we had to call an operator and ask to be connected to another town or city, and now at 29 I find that the telephone on my desk is almost defunct. Cell phones, and particularly smart phones with texting, Twitter, Facebook, Emails and a lot of other apps are fast taking its place. Truly amazing, but as with everything else, the tech-boom comes with a caveat. The cyberspace is now one more place where women are subjected to violence and misogyny.

So I am thankful for today – Orange Day. I hadn’t heard about it until this morning, and just learned that starting last year the United Nations has declared July 25 as a day to declare the cyberspace a safe space for women and girls.

As the website explains, “Technological developments in information and communications have presented rich and varied opportunities for advancements in the empowerment and participation of women and girls… Unfortunately, along with the myriad of possibilities brought about by technological developments, new risks and types of violence have also emerged. One such form of violence is cyberbullying, which occurs on the Internet and mobile phones and can be initiated in cyberspace, or be an extension of face-to-face bullying.  Cyberbullying can include threats and attempts to humiliate its subject through the posting of embarrassing pictures or personal information. It can be particularly difficult to hold perpetrators to account since bullies can easily conceal their identity online.”

As this bloger Parsley The Lioness says “Cyber-bullying has obviously only been around in the time of the internet, but bullies have been around forever”. And on that note, here is an exciting blog on how cyberbullying works and how to stop it http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/educators/howdoyouhandleacyberbully.html

But what better way to take down cyberbullying than to use the cyberspace itself against it, right? So, you can join plenty of online activists today and use the hashtag #OrangeDay to show your solidarity in this fight to end violence against women. You can also help turn the cyberspace orange by using an orange ribbon as your personal profile picture.

We would like to encourage you to demand that cyberbullying against abortion stop.  Anti-choice voices have used the Internet to amplify their distasteful and disrespectful messages against women who have abortions. Several anti-choice messages are in very bad taste, and have deliberately caused women a lot of anxiety. Mostly, these messages target the entire community that stands up for abortion, but occasionally, they have also been used to target specific organizations like Planned Parenthood, or specific individuals who are abortion providers and/or activists. Orange Day is your turn as a supporter of abortion to say something against this bullying, and demand respect for choice and justice.

To make things easy, here are two suggestions!

• Today is #OrangeDay. Online Anti-choice messages are hurtful and disrespectful to women. This has to stop. #prochoice #safeabortion
• Today is #OrangeDay.  Anti-choice is anti-women, online and offline. #prochoice #safeabortion.

Make sure to include @asapasia in your tweets, and we will retweet you to amplify your voice.

Happy #OrangeDay! More power to women!! We would like to leave you with an inspiring talk from Anita Sarkeesian.