Mum’s Facebook plea to reclaim name Isis met with abuse and vitriol

Kim with her daughter Isis, 3.

A MELBOURNE mum whose daughter’s name is Isis says she has been devastated by abusive comments after she made a plea to reclaim the “beautiful” name from the terrorist group.

Kim’s post, which sparked abusive comments.Source:Supplied

Kim said she was shocked at some of the “stupid and ignorant” comments from people after she posted on her Facebook page and some community noticeboards this week.
Some people even told her to change her daughter’s name.
Her post read: “Let’s spread pictures of beautiful Isis and ask people to please call those bad guys ‘Daesh’. C’mon now! Nb: Don’t just like, share!!”
The mum of three said she thought it would be a “lovely and positive thing” to try and dissociate the name from the terrorists.
“We don’t want this beautiful name associated with death and terror,” Kim said.
“I wanted to give the topic a face (but) I copped so much abuse it was unbelievable.”
She said her post was deleted off two noticeboards and someone reported it to Facebook.
“Almost immediately I got lots of vitriol,” Kim said.
Kim said she and her husband chose the name Isis for their daughter, who was born in 2012, after an Egyptian goddess.

One of the Facebook comments Kim got.Source:Supplied

“The reason we named her that was both her brother and grandfather are both interested in Egyptian mythology and we loved to name her after a goddess,” Kim said.
“The group Isis as we know it now wasn’t known as that in 2012.
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“I was naive in thinking people actually knew Isis was an ancient name and what Daesh was.”
Daesh is an acronym for the Arabic phrase al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and used by Governments to condemn the actions of the death cult.
An online petition called “Thousands of women and girls named Isis, please petition media to stop calling the terrorists by our name” has already attracted more than 58,000 signatures.
Kim also wants people to think about their behaviour online.

Another of the Facebook comments.Source:Supplied

“On my personal Facebook page I got lots of lovely support but it’s when you step out of the bubble and you go and interact on a community noticeboard then you open yourself up to a complete other experience of Facebook.
“Those public spaces can be badlands.”
Kim said unmoderated community noticeboards were the worst for unbridled comments.
“I think people lose their humanity when they are behind a keyboard,” Kim said.
“I want people to think about whether what they say online is reflective of the kind of person you are in life.
“Step back, take a breath.”