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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Online violence is spilling offline: 4 in 10 of these women report experiencing offline attacks connected to digital abuse
The following is a press statement from UN Women.
Online violence against women human rights defenders, activists and journalists has reached a tipping point, often fueling offline attacks, according to a new report released today by UN Women and partners. Without strong countermeasures, this risks driving women out of digital spaces, undermining democracy and freedom of expression.
The report Tipping Point: The chilling escalation of violence against women in the public sphere, shows that 70% of surveyed women have experienced online violence in the course of their work. Furthermore, 41% of respondents in these groups reported offline harm linked to online abuse.
For women journalists, the link between online abuse and offline harm has become more concerning. In a 2020 global survey published by UNESCO, 20% of women journalists associated the offline attacks or abuse they experienced with online violence. In the new 2025 survey conducted by the same researchers and presented in this report, that share has risen to 42% of women journalists and media workers — more than double.
“These figures confirm that digital violence is not virtual — it’s real violence with real-world consequences,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women. “Women who speak up for our human rights, report the news, or lead social movements are being targeted with abuse designed to shame, silence and push them out of public debate. Increasingly, those attacks do not stop at the screen — they end at women’s front doors. We cannot allow online spaces to become platforms for intimidation that silence women and undermine democracy.”
“This data shows that in the age of AI-fueled abuse and rising authoritarianism, online violence against women in the public sphere is increasing. But, what’s truly disturbing is the evidence that women journalists’ experience of offline harm associated with online violence has more than doubled since 2020, with 42 per cent of 2025 survey participants identifying this dangerous and potentially deadly trajectory,” lead researcher Professor Julie Posetti, Director of TheNerve’s Information Integrity Initiative, said.
The report also finds that more than nearly one in four surveyed women human rights defenders, activists and journalists have experienced AI-assisted online violence, such as deepfake imagery, manipulated content and AI-generated abuse, with writers or public communicators, who focus on human rights issues (e.g., social media content creators and influencers) facing the highest exposure at 30 per cent.
The report produced by EU-UN Women’s ACT to End Violence against Women programme in partnership with researchers from TheNerve, City St George’s University and the International Center for Journalists, in collaboration with UNESCO, comes as the world wraps up the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. This year’s campaign is dedicated to raising awareness about digital violence with calls for stronger laws and policies to recognize technology-facilitated violence against women as a human rights violation; robust regulation and accountability for tech companies; safety protocols and support systems for women human rights defenders, activists, journalists; and investment in research and data to monitor trends, understand intersectional impacts, and inform evidence-based policy and practice. UN Women will close the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign with the launch of a new corporate strategy to prevent and respond to technology-facilitated violence against women focused on strengthening accountability, closing evidence and data gaps, accelerating prevention and survivor-centered responses as well as building greater resilience and amplifying the voices of women’s rights movements and women leaders.
The report can be downloaded via this link. – Rappler.com
For interviews, contact the UN Women media team on media.team@unwomen.org
About ACT
The Advocacy, Coalition Building and Transformative Feminist Action (ACT) programme, is a game-changing commitment between the European Commission and UN Women as co-leaders of the Action Coalition on Gender Based Violence (GBV), in collaboration with the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. The ACT shared advocacy agenda is elevating the priorities and amplifying the voices of feminist women’s rights movements and providing a collaborative framework focused on common priorities, strategies and actions.
About UN Women
UN Women exists to advance women’s rights, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. As the lead UN entity on gender equality, we shift laws, institutions, social behaviours and services to close the gender gap and build an equal world for all women and girls. We keep the rights of women and girls at the centre of global progress – always, everywhere. Because gender equality is not just what we do. It is who we are.
About the Information Integrity Initiative
The Information Integrity Initiative is a new project of TheNerve, the digital forensics lab founded by Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa. It anchors action-oriented research at the intersection of gender, disinformation, freedom of expression and public interest media.
