BACKGROUND ANALYSIS
Online spaces have become an integral part of public life, and offer possibilities for immediate
expressions of individual and collective opinions, demands, aims and aspirations, presenting
opportunities for participation in public and political debates and activism. This development,
however, has highly ambiguous consequences for gender justice, including the right to equal
public and political participation and a life free from threats and violence.
Online participation and expression frequently lead to attacks that usurp gender stereotypes,
based on or combined with derogative references to gender identities. These acts of genderbased violence in cyberspace, or TFGBV, signifies the harassment, hate speech, defamation,
slandering and unwanted exposure in cyberspace etc. of individuals and groups.
TFGBV affects millions of people, and the impact of TFGBV on women, girls and others,
including LGBTIQ+ persons is profound and multifaceted. Sixty percent of women in the Arab
states reported experiencing some form of online harassment in the preceding year.30 In a
similar manner, more than half of all women in Caucasus and Eastern Europe experienced at
least one form of TFGBV,31 whereas globally, different studies indicate that between 16-60
percent of women are affected.32 Perpetrators are often associated with anti-gender and antifeminist individuals or groups, but can also be state agents.
Victims/survivors often experience severe consequences, including anxiety, depression, and
post-traumatic stress disorder that frequently causes withdrawal from political and public
participation in online as well as offline spaces.
Increasing violence against women in politics
As documented by research, violence against women in politics is increasing at global level.
TFGBV sustains this trend, thus exacerbating an already existing democratic deficit. Often
committed in a continuum between online and offline spaces, the consequences of violations
that are initiated in digital environments are difficult to distinguish from offline realities, and vice
versa. Moreover, the relationship between TFGBV and femicide is increasingly troubling. Over
50 percent of Arab women journalists said they had been attacked or abused offline in
incidents seeded online.33
This means that TFGBV poses a grave threat to not only well-being, safety and freedom of
expression, but also to public participation and political influence. Evidence suggests that
certain actors, especially those exposed in public are more at risk, such as activists –
feminists, women human rights-, land rights and environmental defenders, also academics,
advocates, and politicians and young people in general.
30 UN Women, 2021: Violence against women in the online space: insights from a multi-country study in
the Arab States. https://arabstates.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2021/11/violence-againstwomen-in-the-online-space#view
31 UN Women, 2023: The dark side of digitalization: Technology-facilitated violence against women in
Eastern Europe and Central Asia, https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2023/11/thedark-side-of-digitalization-technology-facilitated-violence-against-women-in-eastern-europe-and-centralasia
32 United Nations, Report of the General Secretary, 2024: Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms
of violence against women and girls: technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, available
at: a-79-500-sg-report-ending-violence-against-women-and-girls-2024-en.pdf
33 UNESCO, 2022 The Chilling: global trends in online violence against women journalists; research
discussion paper - UNESCO Digital Library
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