Digital violence against young women and girls: when online abuse mirrors offline inequality

3 min read 

Nearly half of the world's women and girls lack legal protection from digital abuse, according to UN Women's latest report (2025). This gap reflects a deeper failure: the refusal to recognise that online violence against young women is not a novel digital-age challenge, but the technological continuation of deeply rooted gender inequalities that persist across Europe. What is new is the unprecedented scale and speed with which these patterns unfold online, aided by platforms whose algorithms are specifically designed to provoke and exploit outrage and hostility (EIGE, 2022).

From offline misogyny to algorithmic amplification

Misogyny scarcely began with social media, but digital infrastructure has certainly intensified it. Studies across Europe confirm that young women are disproportionately targeted by harassment, sexualised abuse, image-based violence and so-called »deepfakes« (Council of Europe, 2021; Paradiso et al., 2024). This is not something separate from offline discrimination, but an extension of it. It’s important to note that young women are attacked not in response to anything they do online, but because of what they represent: visibility, autonomy and the challenge they pose to established gender hierarchies.

The mechanisms of amplification matter. Online spaces thrive on polarisation and emotional extremity and so this is an environment in which gendered hostility may spread rapidly. Research by HateAid (2025) documents how platform algorithms prioritise content that generates strong engagement, including abusive posts, while failures of enforcement leave the perpetrators unaccountable. The problems are built in.

Image-based abuse: old tactics of control, new digital tools

Non-consensual sharing of intimate images, deepfake pornography and digitally manipulated photos represent one of the fastest-growing forms of online gender-based violence. McGlynn and Rigotti (2024) trace how image-based abuse is rooted in longstanding patterns of sexual control and victim-blaming, now turbocharged by technology.

Digital tools have made these practices easier, more anonymous and more damaging. Deepfakes in effect weaponise AI to fabricate sexualised images of young women. This makes the abuse harder to trace and its effects are longer lasting. The technology is new, but the impulse to control and humiliate women is not.

The democratic costs: silencing a generation

But the consequences of digital violence extend far beyond the screen. Young women frequently experience anxiety, shame and fear as a result, which leads many to withdraw from online communities or avoid political expression altogether (UN Women, 2025). Those who speak up about feminism, human rights or equality are often targeted most intensely.

This withdrawal may have implications for democracy. When young women retreat from public debate, for example, Europe may lose critical voices, emerging leaders and perspectives essential to a pluralistic democracy. The result is a shrinking, homogenous digital public sphere that both reflects and reinforces offline inequalities.

Europe's responsibility: from reactive measures to structural solutions

The EU has taken steps to tackle these issues with the Digital Services Act (DSA), particularly Article 34's requirement that very large platforms assess and mitigate systemic risks, including gender-based violence. But real progress would require robust enforcement, transparent algorithms and swift responses to image-based abuse and deepfakes (OECD, 2025).

A structural problem requires structural responses:

1. Regulation that confronts platform power

Platforms must be held accountable, not only for failures of content moderation but also – and above all – for the systemic incentives that boost gendered abuse. The DSA provides a foundation, particularly its provisions on algorithmic transparency and risk assessment, but implementation is key. Independent audits and meaningful penalties for non-compliance are essential.

2. Feminist digital literacy

Digital literacy must also include gender-critical perspectives. Young women need tools to be able to recognise manipulation, understand data practices, navigate safety settings and access support. Programmes such as Germany's HateAid digital self-defence workshops and Sweden's #näthatshjälpen initiative demonstrate what's possible when digital citizenship focuses on gender equality. These models should be scaled up across Europe.

3. Investing in collective strength

Grassroots feminist organisations, youth networks and civil society initiatives – such as the European Women's Lobby, Plan International's digital safety programmes and national networks such as France's Centre Hubertine Auclert – play a crucial role in providing support and building resistance. Their work must be recognised as part of Europe's democratic infrastructure and funded accordingly.

Reclaiming the digital public sphere

Digital spaces should enable participation, creativity and empowerment. Ensuring that young women and girls can engage without fear is not only a component of gender equality, but central to Europe's democratic resilience.

Online violence will not disappear of its own accord. Tackling it successfully will require that we recognise the continuum between offline inequality and online abuse, and respond effectively with bold, structural and intersectional action.

The question is not whether Europe can afford to act, but whether it can afford not to.

References: 

Council of Europe (2021): The digital dimension of violence against women: Online and technology-facilitated violence. Thematic report. Available at: rm.coe.int/thematic-report-on-the-digital-dimension-of-violence-against-women-as-/1680a933ae

European Commission (2022): The Digital Services Act package. Publications Office of the European Union. Available at: digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act-package

European Institute for Gender Equality (2022): Combating cyber violence against women and girls. Publications Office of the European Union. Available at: eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/combating_cyber_violence_against_women_and_girls.pdf

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2024): Online harassment, hate speech and young people in the EU. FRA Bulletin. Available at: fra.europa.eu

HateAid (2025): Boundless hate: EU-wide survey on digital violence. Press release. Available at: hateaid.org/en/press-release-eu-survey-digital-violence/

McGlynn, C. and Rigotti, C. (2024): Image-based sexual abuse and EU law: a critical analysis, in: German Law Journal, 25(3). Available at: www.cambridge.org/core/journals/german-law-journal/article/imagebased-sexual-abuse-and-eu-law-a-critical-analysis/B0CF334A0037DE3CA2067B79F506EB87

OECD ( 2025): Gender equality in a changing world: Violence against women remains pervasive. Available at: www.oecd.org/en/publications/gender-equality-in-a-changing-world_e808086f-en/full-report/violence-against-women-remains-pervasive_aa396d5d.html

Paradiso, M.N., et al. (2024): Image-based sexual abuse associated factors, in: Journal of Family Violence. Available at: doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00557-z

Stop Online Violence (2020): Cyber violence against women and girls. Available at: www.stoponlineviolence.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Cybersafe_Report_200623_web.pdf

UN Women (2025): Digital violence is intensifying, yet nearly half of the world's women and girls lack legal protection from digital abuse. Press release. Available at: www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2025/11/digital-violence-is-intensifying-yet-nearly-half-of-the-worlds-women-and-girls-lack-legal-protection-from-digital-abuse