#BringBackOurGirls: Global Social Media March

#BringBackOurGirls Social Media March

208 girls were abducted from a boarding school in Nigeria three weeks ago by a militant terrorist group, Boko Haram. A global Social Media March has begun with a Live Google Hangout happening now. With support from GirlRising, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls at the Party and other groups, as well as girls education advocates like Malala, the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls is now trending on Facebook and Twitter. You can join by using the hashtag, change your social media avatar and tune into the issue. Go to GirlRising.com for an Action Pack and other suggestions about what you can do to help these girls.

Here is the text of the petition you can sign at Change.org:

In Nigeria, over 200 girls were recently abducted from their boarding school by a terrorist group, Boko Haram, that may be selling them as brides for $12 each. I am calling on the Nigerian government to save them.

This is part of an ongoing conflict within Nigeria that has nothing to do with these 200 girls. The abducted young girls are being affected by a conflict they did not create, and their voices need to be heard. I can only imagine what these 200 girls have been through, and their government is not doing nearly enough to save them.

The group Boko Haram has repeatedly said girls should not be educated. I am a young Nigerian woman pursuing my education in Germany. I believe the Nigerian government must do more to ensure the safe return of these girls.

By signing this petition we declare our solidarity with the kidnapped girls and call upon the world not to forget them, support all efforts to ensure their safe return, and ask President Goodluck Jonathan and the Nigerian Government to ensure all schools are safe places to learn, protected from attack.

Here is a geotagging map of Twitter activity over the past few weeks since the abduction, showing increased spikes in virality over the last few days as the story went global. The origin of the tweets begins in Nigeria.