Digital Abuse in Focus as UN Opens 16 Days of Activism

The United Nations has launched its annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, placing a growing form of abuse at the centre of global attention. Running from 25 November to 10 December, the campaign links the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women with Human Rights Day and highlights the sharp expansion of technology-facilitated violence.

UN Women reports an accelerating rise in online harassment, cyberstalking, gendered disinformation, image-based abuse and the use of artificial intelligence to create manipulated sexual content. Research indicates that between 16 and 58 percent of women have experienced some form of digital abuse. An estimated 90 to 95 percent of deepfake videos circulating online are sexualised images of women.

To mark the start of the campaign, UN Women and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime released Femicides in 2024, the latest global assessment of killings committed by intimate partners or family members. The findings point to a persistent and deeply entrenched pattern. About 83,000 women and girls were deliberately killed last year. Nearly 60 percent of them, or around 50,000, were murdered by a partner or family member. The agencies note that this level of lethal violence has shown no meaningful decline in recent years.

The figures amount to one woman or girl killed by someone in her family almost every ten minutes. By comparison, only about 11 percent of male homicides were carried out by intimate partners or family members.

The report also highlights how digital tools have become intertwined with physical violence. Technology has increased the reach of cyberstalking, coercive control and image-based abuse. In several documented cases, it has escalated existing threats and contributed to killings.

In a message issued for the International Day, the Secretary-General urged governments to criminalise digital violence and expand support for survivors. He called on technology companies to make platforms safer and more accountable and urged communities to reject online hate, noting that digital spaces must not become yet another arena where women and girls are at risk.

This year’s campaign offers a series of public resources, including guidance on online safety and material explaining how artificial intelligence is accelerating technology-facilitated abuse. 

Over the 16 days, the UN is calling for stronger accountability for perpetrators, higher safety standards across digital platforms and sustained funding for women’s rights groups working to prevent and respond to violence.

Additional resources: 

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