Open University centre in Milton Keynes aims to protect women from online violence

The Open University says online violence is a societal problem that needs to be tackled urgently

A new centre is to open to tackle the "epidemic" problem of online violence against women and girls.

It will be created at the Open University (OU) in Milton Keynes after Research England awarded it £7.7m.

The centre will "develop research to inform law, policy, technology development and practice" to prevent and reduce suffering.

Prof Olga Jurasz said: "Online violence is a societal problem that needs to be tackled urgently."

The Open University is a distance-based educator

The university said its research found that 15% of woman in England had experienced online violence, 30% had witnessed online violence and 13% had experienced violence online that progressed to offline violence.

It also found that seven in 10 women (68%) believed current legislation was ineffective at tackling the problem.

The centre, expected to open later this year, will be led by Prof Jurasz.

"Women and girls are facing an epidemic in online violence, and the lines between 'online' and 'offline' spaces are becoming increasingly blurred, which allows violence against women and girls to thrive," she said.

"Online violence is a societal problem that needs to be tackled urgently. We need everybody to pull together to address these issues and to make online spaces for women safer."

Kevin Shakesheff, pro-vice-chancellor of research and innovation, said: "Through our Open Societal Challenges programme, the OU is committing its academic expertise to tackle some of the world's most important challenges of our time."