Gender-based violence on the internet
Gender-specific discrimination is being propagated and intensified online. When women and girls have internet access, they are more likely than men to face digital violence.x
Digital forms of violence include cyber-stalking, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, threats of rape and death, and non-consensual pornography (revenge porn).x
Every tenth woman has experienced some form of violence on the internet since turning 15 years of age.
These experiences have negative psychological consequences x and far-reaching impacts on personal online engagement. Ever more people are gaining access to the internet, and digital spaces are becoming increasingly important in society. It is therefore all the more necessary to make these digital spaces safe and inclusive for everyone.
Possible measures:
Opportunities to achieve this are almost as diverse as the internet itself, e.g. awareness-raising measures and training, such as digital repositories of effective protection and response strategies, information campaigns and the targeted training of digital skills for women and girls.
Other possible actions are aimed at protecting user privacy. These include online self-help groups for those affected as well as protected digital spaces and tools or settings that allow users to manage the comments of other users and block users.
In acute cases, services are available to assist affected persons, for example in the form of immediate, around the clock support.x Important offline measures include emergency telephone lines, training for police and the judiciary and, last but not least, legislation that criminalises internet violence against women and girls.
1.
Awareness-raising measures and training
2.
Securing the privacy of users
3.
Services for those affected in acute cases
Footnotes
- Source: UN Women (2020) Online and ICT* facilitated violence against women and girls during COVID-19 (opens in a new window)
- Source: EIGE (2017) Gewalt im Internet gegen Mädchen und Frauen (opens in a new window)
- Source: UN Women (2020) Online and ICT* facilitated violence against women and girls during COVID-19 (opens in a new window)
- Source: UN Women (2020) Online and ICT* facilitated violence against women and girls during COVID-19 (opens in a new window)