Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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November 20, 2025 Women
Digital technology can be a tool for empowerment. But today, for millions of women and girls, online spaces have become a source of fear.
According to UN Women, artificial intelligence, online anonymity and weak accountability mechanisms are fueling a surge in online violenceGlobally, 1.8 billion women and girls live without legal protection from online harassment and other forms of technology-enabled violence. Against this backdrop, the annual 16 Days of Activism campaign kicks off on November 25. against gender-based violence".
"What happens online doesn't stay online."
Less than 40 percent of countries worldwide have passed laws that explicitly regulate online harassment and cyberbullying, leaving many perpetrators unpunished and victims without access to justice.
The internet continues to be both a source of opportunity and a risk for women. Journalists, activists, and public figures face the spread of gender-motivated disinformation, deepfake attacks, and coordinated intimidation campaigns aimed at ousting them from the public sphere.
One in four female journalists reports online death threats.
“What starts online doesn’t stay online. Digital violence spills over into real life, creating fear, silencing [women], and in the worst cases, leading to physical violence and femicide" said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bacchus.
She stressed that laws must evolve along with technology: “It is unacceptable that weak legal mechanisms continue to leave millions of women and girls without protection while perpetrators act with impunity.”
New wave of digital attacks
The development of AI has dramatically expanded the scale of digital violence. It is becoming more personal and increasingly difficult to detect. According to one global survey, 38 percent of women have experienced online violence, and 85 percent have witnessed it.
Deepfakes, photorealistic images and videos generated by neural networks, pose a particular threat. Up to 95 percent of all deepfakes are pornographic, created without the consent of the person they depict, and 99 percent of the victims are women.
Many deepfake creation tools are developed by all-male teams and often do not even include images of male subjects, highlighting the gendered nature of the abuse.
Activist Laura Bates warns that the impact of such attacks cannot be underestimated. "The 'online/offline' divide is an illusion," she noted. The spread of deepfakes, for example, can lead to job losses, child custody restrictions, and girls dropping out of school due to bullying.
Legislation is developing too slowly
In some countries, new legal norms are emerging.
As of 2025, 117 countries report taking steps to combat digital violence, but progress remains fragmented and lags behind technological developments. Experts emphasize the need for global cooperation and tailored approaches to AI regulation.
UN Women emphasizes that measures should include:
attracting more women to the development of technologies; creating safe digital platforms; promptly removing harmful content; taking into account the principles of responsibility and safety in the creation of AI products; investing in digital literacy; programs to change cultural norms, including working with toxic online communities such as the "manosphere."
Read also:
What is the manosphere and why should we care?
At the same time, feminist movements, which are the quickest to respond to cases of digital violence, are faced with reduction of civic space and funding.
“Technology can be a force for equality – but only if we design it that way,” emphasized Sima Bacchus.
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