Beauty company Coty has launched a new initiative through its Rimmel cosmetics brand aimed at combating the issue of beauty cyberbullying affecting millions of people around the world.

The #IWillNotBeDeleted Rimmel initiative – which has been created in partnership with the Cybersmile Foundation and supported by Rimmel global brand ambassadors Rita Ora and Cara Delevingne – has been designed to tackle the issues that stop people from being to fully express themselves on social media. With this, an online space will be introduced for young people to share their experiences and help find solutions for the issue.

Furthermore, Rimmel and Cybersmile will work together to create a virtual assistant for all visitors to the Cybersmile website around the world. Cybersmile Assistant will recommend approved local resources, helplines, and organisations that can help those affected by beauty cyberbully. It will initially launch in an English-speaking language version in early 2019, before being rolled out in other languages.

“I am really proud to work with Coty and Rimmel on this campaign and support the message that beauty cyberbullying is not okay,” said Rita Ora. “I hope that by working with a business the size of Coty, we can get this message out to millions of people worldwide and truly change things for the better.”

Cara Delevingne added: “Cyberbullying related to beauty choices has a real impact on people long after the incident occurs. The idea that some people make decisions in anticipation or fear of potential bullying is heartbreaking. I look forward to working with Rimmel to try and find a way of addressing this growing issue.”

Alongside the launch of the initiative, Coty and Rimmel have published a report looking the experiences of young women and beauty cyberbullying.

The report, which spoke to 11,000 women aged between 16 and 25 across 10 countries, found that 25 per cent of women have experienced beauty cyberbullying. Of those that experienced beauty cyberbullying, 57 per cent didn’t tell anyone, while 67 per cent said they had lost confidence and 46 per cent have gone on to self-harm.

“Rimmel is about championing self-expression in beauty. We have always been against narrow definitions of beauty and people being judged because of the way they look,” said Sara Wolverson, VP of Rimmel Global Marketing at Coty. “As a global beauty company, Coty wants to contribute solutions that can positively impact prejudice and discrimination that stand in the way of self-expression and to raise awareness to affect positive changes in behaviour. We look forward to working with The Cybersmile Foundation, our brand ambassadors, our colleagues worldwide and our consumers on this important issue.”