From 25 November to 10 December 2025, the UN Women will lead a campaign for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender‑Based Violence . This year’s theme “UNiTE to End Digital Violence Against All Women and Girls.” UN Women+2UN Women+2
Raising awareness around the often unseen, and often dismissed reality of violence through technology and online spaces—includes but is not limited to harassment, non-consensual image sharing, cyber-stalking, doxing (publishing of private or identifying information about a particular individual on the internet, typically with malicious intent), deepfakes, and algorithm-driven bias. Such violence is expand traditional gender-based violence into new realms of vulnerability and control. For example, studies suggest between 16% and 58% of women and girls worldwide have experienced some form of online violence. Women in Games
Why does digital violence matter?
Because intimate, economic, social and political harms all travel online now. Online violence erodes safety, silences voices, undermines career and educational opportunities, and deepens inequality. As the UN Secretary-General observed, “Digital tools … are often silencing women’s voices, amplifying bias and fuelling harassment.” Reuters
What does prevention look like?
It means structural solutions, not only individual coping. We know that equal pay, affordable housing, child care, and accessible education reduce vulnerability to violence generally. In the digital era, these solutions take on another level of importance as they build resilience: economic independence means fewer ties to perpetrators; housing and stable employment reduce digital isolation; education builds critical digital literacy and agency; and affordable child care frees up time and resources for survivors.
What can we do locally?
- Advocate for pay equity audits and transparent hiring in digital/tech sectors.
- Push for affordable broadband and digital access policies that include women and gender-diverse people.
- Support digital literacy and safe-tech training in women-serving organizations.
- Call on platforms and tech firms to adopt gender-responsive moderation, reporting and algorithm-audit practices.
- Fund community-based services that help women and gender-diverse persons respond to digital violence: legal aid, counselling, peer support.
- Share the UN Women concept note and toolkit for visuals and messaging. UN Women+1, embed links to relevant UN Women, WHO or technology-policy reports (e.g., “Accelerating Efforts to Tackle Online and Technology-Facilitated Violence Against Women and Girls.”)
- Ask universities to host digital-safety workshops, platform audits, employer training, and listen to our shared stories of digital harm and resilience
Building relationship-centred prevention:
Community is the antidote to isolation—online or offline. When women and gender-diverse folks are networked, supported, trained, empowered, the digital threats lose their power. Our theme at the Connect 35th Anniversary conference — “Relationship is the Resolution” — fits naturally here: in digital spaces, relationships of trust, mutual aid, knowledge-sharing and solidarity are essential.
Let’s treat digital violence as a core part of gender-based violence prevention. This year’s 16 Days invite us to expand our lens, lift voices, demand structural change, and build safer worlds—online and offline.