The United Nations agency for women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment (UN Women) is sounding the alarm this week as the 16 Days of Activism campaign begins, calling for urgent action against rising digital violence.
Space has become a front line in the fight for gender equality, with Less than 40 percent of countries have laws that address cyberbullying or cyberbullyingleaving perpetrators largely unanswered and 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 an increasingly weapon in the hands of abusers.
Women leaders, journalists, activists and public figures face Relentless gender misinformation, deepfake attacks, and coordinated harassment campaigns designed to silence, shame, and drive 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 extends to real lifesowing fear, silencing voices and, in the worst cases, causing physical violence and femicide,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous.
Adding that laws must evolve with technology to ensure justice protects women both online and offline, Ms Bahous added that it was “unacceptable” that weak legal protections continue to leave millions of women and girls vulnerable, while perpetrators act with impunity.
Through its 16 Days of Activism campaign, UN Women calls for a world where technology serves equality, not harm.
AI drives new wave of digital abuse
The rise of AI has dramatically amplified digital abuse, making 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-based deepfake technology is being weaponized on a large scale: up to 95 percent of online deepfakes are non-consensual pornographic images, and 99 percent of targets are women.
Digital abuse is not limited to screens. Online attacks quickly spill over into real life and increase in severity.
Many deepfake tools, developed by male teams, are not even designed to work with images of men.underscoring the gendered nature of this technology.
UN Women urges technology companies to step up by hiring more women, creating safer online spaces, quickly removing harmful content and responding effectively to reports of abuse.
Activist Laura Bates warns against minimizing the damage. “The division between what is online and what is not online is an illusion,” he said.
“When a domestic abuser uses online tools to track or stalk a victim, when abusive pornographic deepfakes cause the victim to lose her job or access to her children, when online abuse of a young woman results in offline shaming and her dropping out of school, these are just a few examples that show how easily and dangerously digital abuse spills over into real life.”
Legislation is a work in progress
From the UK’s Online Safety Act to Mexico’s Olympia Act, Australia’s Online Safety Act and the EU’s Digital Security Act, change is on the way.
As of 2025, 117 countries report efforts to address digital violence, but progress remains fragmented and regulation often lags behind technological advances.
AI and technology policy experts call for stronger global cooperation and more effective laws to address AI-driven digital abuse.
Policymakers should adapt 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. Demand that companies hire more women in technology development, build safer platforms, quickly remove harmful content, and build accountability into AI design.
The UN agency also emphasizes investments in digital literacy, especially for young people, and cultural change programs that challenge toxic online communities, including the growing “manosphere.”
Listen to our interview with UN Women’s Kalliopi Mingeirou, who is leading the effort to end violence against women and girls, about the alarming spread of misogyny online:
Feminist movements – often the first responders in this crisis – face shrinking civic space and funding cuts, making initiatives such as the EU-funded ACT program to end violence against women and girls vital to sustaining progress.
“Technology can be a force for equality, but only if we build it that way,” Ms. Bahous added.
From November 25 to December 10, join the #NoExcuse campaign to learn about and take action to stop digital abuse against women and girls.