1. Introduction and background
1. Introduction and
background
This study, commissioned by DW Akademie, provides a
foundational investigation into GBVO within the Syrian
context. The research serves as a critical evidence base
to inform project interventions aimed at fostering a safer,
more inclusive, and gender-sensitive media and digital
environment. By examining the manifestations, drivers, and
impacts of online violence against women, the study seeks
to equip media stakeholders, civil society, and policymakers and the wider international audience with the insights
needed to develop effective counter strategies and promote women’s safe participation in public discourse.
platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, or Telegram.
GBVO exploits patriarchal norms and honor-based
narratives to silence women, discredit their public roles,
and reinforce gendered barriers to participation in civic
and digital life (UNFPA, 2025b).
In conflict-affected contexts, these risks often intensify, as
documented by OHCHR, where insecurity, displacement,
economic collapse, and the erosion of protection and
justice systems interact with pre-existing gender inequalities, expanding exposure to violence while limiting access
to safe reporting and support pathways (Human Rights
Council, 2018; OHCHR, 2023).
Gender-Based Violence (GBV) refers to harmful acts
directed at an individual based on socially ascribed gender roles and unequal power relations. It encompasses
physical, sexual, psychological, and socio-economic harm,
as well as threats, coercion, and other forms of control
that restrict autonomy and participation in public and
private life. While GBV can affect people of all genders,
women and girls are disproportionately impacted due to
entrenched inequalities and norms that police behavior,
sexuality, and visibility (UN, 2016; United Nations Inter
Agency Standing Committee, 2015).
In Syria, UN reporting has repeatedly highlighted the
gendered impacts of the conflict on women and girls,
including persistent exposure to sexual and gender-based
violence and the compounded barriers that survivors face
in seeking protection and accountability (Human Rights
Council, 2018; OHCHR, 2023). In addition to direct physical risks, GBV in Syria is shaped by powerful reputational
dynamics and social sanctions, where blame is often
shifted to survivors and where “honor-based” narratives
can heighten the consequences of disclosure. These
conditions contribute to underreporting and a climate of
silence, while also reinforcing patterns of intimidation that
are designed to limit women’s mobility, voice, and participation in public life.
While Technology Facilitated Gender-Based Violence
(TFGBV) is an act of violence perpetrated by one or more
individuals that committed, assisted, aggravated and
amplified in part or fully use of information and communication technologies or digital media against a person on
the basis of gender (UNFPA, 2025a, 2025b).
Against this backdrop, digital spaces have increasingly
become an extension of Syria’s social and political landscape, and therefore another arena where gendered
power relations are reproduced. As internet access and
digital participation expand, online platforms are more
central to communication, professional networking, and
civic engagement, including journalists, activists, and civil
society actors. The report’s desk review notes a marked
increase in internet users over recent years and growing
reliance on chat-based and social messaging applications, which can increase exposure to privacy violations,
data breaches, and other technology-enabled harms
While GBVO is not yet formally codified in international
frameworks, its use in this study reflects the terminology
increasingly adopted by humanitarian actors to describe
a specific, visibility-driven form of digital violence. In the
Syrian context, GBVO is understood as a subset of TFGBV
that occurs primarily in public or semi-public digital
spaces, it includes targeted abuse, defamation, and moral
shaming directed at women and girls, particularly activists,
journalists, and human rights defenders, based on their
digital presence, voice, or perceived behavior in online
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