The Urgent Crisis of Digital Violence
During the 30th anniversary year of the Beijing Platform for Action, leaders, activists, and survivors gathered to launch a critical campaign addressing an escalating crisis: digital violence against women and girls. Coordinated by UN Women, the UNITE to End Violence against Women and Girls 2025 Campaign was launched at the United Nations with a dynamic program of keynote speakers and special guests. The event issued a call to action to ensure that every woman and girl can live free from fear, both online and offline.
A Pattern with a Purpose
Digital violence is not random. It follows a deliberate pattern designed to intimidate, humiliate, and silence women and girls. From fake images to harassment, threats, and stalking, this violence devastates lives and prevents women and girls from fully participating in society.
The statistics are shocking. In some regions of the world, more than 50% of women have experienced online violence. Nearly 95% of deepfake videos online depict women in sexual acts, and 58% of all women globally have faced online abuse. Almost every high-ranking woman in public life—regardless of profession—faces digital harassment, sexualization, and threats.
Personal Stories, Collective Impact
Marion Reimers
Marion Reimers, Mexican sports journalist, television host, and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, shared her deeply personal experience of enduring 18 years of digital violence and misogynistic threats. Despite the personal and professional toll, she refuses to give in or give up, emphasizing that digital violence is real-world violence with real-world consequences that silences voices and undermines women’s ability to participate fully in public life.
Annalena Baerbock
United Nations General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock recounted her own experience of digital violence during her campaign for Germany’s Chancellorship, including the circulation of a fake image falsely claiming she earned her living as a prostitute—an image that remains accessible online. Her story reflects the experiences of countless women in politics, media, and sports who face relentless digital attacks.
Other speakers, including a high school senior, spoke for a generation navigating a complex digital landscape where violence has become normalized. Having witnessed and experienced digital violence firsthand, the speaker emphasized that this is not an isolated trend but a devastating pattern affecting women and girls worldwide. The impacts bleed into classrooms, sports fields, relationships, and homes—making the urgency to eliminate digital violence undeniable.
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous noted that digital technology has become a new frontier for old injustices, driving hate speech, misogyny, and real-world harm. Some progress is being made: two-thirds of countries now report targeted action on digital violence through support services, interventions, and policy frameworks. Much more is required, however, to effect social transformation.
Flipping the Narrative
The United to End Digital Violence campaign calls for a fundamental shift in how society addresses digital violence:
- Put the shame on perpetrators, not victims. Challenge the notion that online violence is normal, that it “just happens,” or that it’s simply a fact of modern life.
- Demand accountability from governments, online companies, and advertisers. Ignorance is not an excuse.
- Create counter-narratives where digital worlds are shaped by rights rather than risks, especially for young people who are native digital users.
- Stand up every day when women face violence online or offline, united in solidarity.
This campaign hopes to inspire a movement. A movement that refuses to accept digital violence as inevitable. A movement that demands women and girls can participate fully in public life without fear. A movement that recognizes online behaviors are connected to real-world behaviors and must be addressed with equal seriousness.
Baerbock made clear the campaign message: “We are standing up proudly. We are showing today that we women and girls are strong. We are here, we will stay, and we will rise.”
To learn more about the Unite to End Violence Against Women and Girls campaign or to join the call to action, visit UN Women’s campaign website.
Autor: Sarah Rudolph, Cf
