Fueled by artificial intelligence, anonymity and lack of accountability, online abuse is rapidly escalating. Yet 1.8 billion women and girls still lack legal protection against online harassment and other forms of technology-facilitated abuse.
The alarm is being sounded this week by the United Nations agency for women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment (UN Women) like the 16 days of activism » begins the campaign, calling for urgent action against soaring digital violence.
Space has become a frontline in the fight for gender equality, with less than 40 percent of countries have laws against cyberbullying or cyberstalkingleaving the perpetrators of the crimes largely unchallenged and the victims without justice.
“What starts online doesn’t stay online”
For women, the Internet offers both empowerment and danger: a place of expression and opportunity, but also a growing weapon in the hands of abusers.
Women leaders, journalists, activists and public figures face Relentless sexist misinformation, deepfake attacks and coordinated harassment campaigns designed to silence, humiliate and exclude them from public life. One in four female journalists say they have received death threats online.
“What starts online doesn’t stay online. Digital abuse spills over into real lifesowing fear, silencing voices and, in the worst cases, leading to physical violence and feminicide,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women.
Adding that laws must evolve with technology to ensure justice protects women both online and offline, Ms Bahous said it was “unacceptable” that weak legal protections still left millions of women and girls vulnerable, while perpetrators of violence acted with impunity.
Through its 16 Days of Activism campaign, UN Women is calling for a world where technology serves equality, not evil.
AI is driving a new wave of digital abuse
The rise of AI has dramatically amplified digital abusemaking it faster, more targeted and harder to detect. According to a global survey, 38 percent of women have experienced online violence and 85 percent have witnessed it.
AI-powered deepfake technology is being used as a weapon on a large scale: up to 95% of deepfakes online are non-consensual pornographic images, and 99% of those targeted are women.
Digital abuse is not limited to screens. Online attacks are quickly spreading into real life and becoming more and more serious.
Many deepfake tools, developed by male teams, are not even designed to work on images of men.highlighting the gendered nature of this technology.
UN Women is urging tech companies to step up their efforts by hiring more women, creating safer online spaces, quickly removing harmful content and responding effectively to reports of abuse.
Campaigner Laura Bates warns of the need to minimize the damage. “The online-offline divide is an illusion,” she said.
“When a domestic abuser uses online tools to follow or stalk a victim, when abusive pornographic deepfakes cause a victim to lose their job or access to their children, when online violence against a young woman results in offline shame and her dropping out of school – these are just a few examples of how easily and dangerously digital abuse spills over into real life.
Legislation is under construction
From the UK’s Online Safety Act to Mexico’s Ley Olimpia, Australia’s Online Safety Act and the EU’s Digital Safety Act, change is afoot.
From 2025, Report from 117 countries efforts to combat digital violence, but progress remains fragmented and regulation often lags behind technological advances.
AI and technology policy experts are calling for stronger global cooperation and more effective laws to combat AI-driven digital abuse.
Policymakers must adapt their approaches to national contexts and cultural realities rather than relying on a single model for AI governance.
Prevention beyond punishment
UN Women emphasizes that prevention must go beyond punishment. It calls on companies to hire more women in technology development, create safer platforms, quickly remove harmful content, and build accountability into AI design.
The UN agency also emphasizes investments in digital literacy, particularly for young people, and in cultural change programs that challenge toxic online communities, including the growing “manosphere.”
Listen again to our interview with UN Women’s Kalliopi Mingeirou, who leads efforts to end violence against women and girls, on the alarming spread of misogyny online:
Feminist movements – often the first responders in this crisis – are facing shrinking civic space and funding cuts, leading to initiatives like the EU-funded ACT to End Violence against Women and Girls program vital to sustaining progress.
“Technology can be a force for equality, but only if we build it that way,” added Bahous.
From November 25 to December 10, join the #NoExcuse campaign to learn more and take action to end digital abuse against women and girls.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
