harmless, but are part of creating a culture of sexism that allows TFGBV to flourish. Everyday
sexism can contribute to the feeling of not belonging in public spaces and debates.14
ONLINE OFFLINE CONTINUUM
The urgency of addressing sexist hate speech and tackling online gendered disinformation is a
topic prioritized by IMS. Online violence has real life consequences, similar to those of
violence in the physical world. For example, in Pakistan, nine out of 10 women journalists
reported that their mental health has been affected, and globally cases of stress, anxiety,
depression, post-traumatic stress and suicide have been recorded. As a result, women
journalists, who are already underrepresented in the news, use various forms of self-protection
strategies such as turning down assignments, working under pseudonyms, not sharing
opinions online, changing their beat to different topics or leaving the profession. Online
gender-based violence is not just a private violation but a real and acute threat to freedom of
expression.15
Research emphasises that TFGBV and offline violence exist on a continuum rather than as
separate phenomena. Digital abuse can serve as a precursor to physical violence: online
threats, doxing, and sharing of intimate images have been linked to stalking, physical assault,
sexual coercion, and other forms of offline harm.16 Empirical evidence from KVINFO’s work in
Egypt sustains this finding, and, for example, points at the use of TFGBV to hinder divorce.
Research on intimate partner violence shows that TFGBV commonly co-occurs with offline
coercive and controlling behaviours, reinforcing the role of digital tactics in broader patterns of
violence and abuse.17
Although systematic data on magnitude and causal pathways remain limited, the growing body
of evidence underscores that digital violence is not “just online”—it can escalate into real-world
harm and reflects and reinforces offline gender-based violence patterns.18 According to new
research from UN Women, among 640 women human rights defenders, activists, journalists
and media workers surveyed, 42 percent had experienced offline harm triggered by online
violence, which is more than double the incidence rate recorded in 2020.19
Another aggravating factor is that the vast majority of persons exposed to TFGBV do not
report it to the competent authorities (such as police and Anti-Cyber Crimes Units) due to lack
Analyse & Tal, KVINFO and TrygFonden (2025) Digital hverdagssexisme: Hvordan forebygger og
håndterer man den hårde tone i onlinedebatter, https://kvinfo.dk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Digitalhverdagssexisme_20250430.pdf
15 International Media Support (IMS) Online gendered disinformation and sexist hate speech, IMS-Onlinegendered-disinformation_final.pdf
16 Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA) and KVINFO, The Impact of Technology-Facilitated GenderBased Violence (TFGBV) on Survivors in Jordan, Final-JOSA-KVINFO-TFGBV-Study-1.pdf
17 Storey, J. E. et al. (2021) ‘Technology-Facilitated Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination of
Prevalence, Perpetration Type and Methods and the Impact of COVID-19’, Journal of Interpersonal
Violence, Technology-Facilitated Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination of Prevalence, Perpetration
Type and Methods and the Impact of COVID-19 - PubMed
18 UN Women and UNDP, Technology Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Developing a shared research
agenda, technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-shared-research-agenda-en.pdf
19 Posetti, J. et. al, 2025, Tipping point: The chilling escalation of online violence against women in the
public sphere, UN Women, tipping-point-the-chilling-escalation-of-violence-against-women-in-the-publicsphere-in-the-age-of-ai-en.pdf
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