Technology-facilitated gender-based violence in the workplace: a growing occupational safety challenge

3 min read 

In 2023, a group of Italian women working in the advertising and communication sector publicly denounced instances of sexual harassment and sexist practices at the agency We Are Social. The women, all former employees who later co-founded the Re:B collective, revealed the existence of a Teams group chat shared among the agency’s male staff, in which workers commented on female colleagues’ bodies, circulated photos without consent — including creepshots — and rated women based on their appearance, using misogynistic language and slurs. Following their denunciation, hundreds of other women came forward to share similar experiences from within the industry, giving rise to what the media called the »#MeToo of advertising«. This sheds light on the discriminatory and violent practices against women that still persist in the workplace.

The use of chatgroups to police and objectify women is not new, nor is it specific to the Italian case. A growing body of literature has already shown how digital technologies can reinforce existing gender-based inequalities and amplify forms of violence. In a study I co-authored with Lucia Bainotti on image-based abuse within Telegram groups, we observed how features such as anonymity, a sense of impunity and ease of content sharing can encourage and even normalise misogynistic behaviours. These digital affordances – namely the technical and social possibilities that platforms enable – often intensify harm and create new dynamics of control and humiliation at women’s expense. What stands out in the Italian case, however, is that workplace communication tools themselves, such as Slack, Zoom or Microsoft Teams, can also be misused and become spaces of violation. Platforms designed for collaboration have been turned into tools of surveillance, control and sexual harassment. Violence in the workplace is not new, but as digital technologies have blurred the boundaries between professional and private spaces they have also allowed abuse to pursue workers across devices and contexts.

According to UN Women, technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) refers to any act committed or amplified through digital tools or technologies that causes physical, sexual, psychological, social, political or economic harm to women and girls because of their gender. UNESCO estimates that nearly 60 per cent of women and girls worldwide have experienced such violence on social media. These numbers are even higher for women belonging to marginalised groups, such as women of colour, migrants, LGBTQ+ people, and persons with disabilities. This shows that digital violence is also deeply intersectional. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence can take many forms, ranging from online harassment and hate speech to more complex and technologically mediated abuses, such as image-based sexual abuse (for example, the non-consensual sharing of intimate images or cyberflashing), the creation of sexual deepfakes, doxxing, identity theft, cyberstalking and manipulation through smart devices and the Internet of Things (IoT). These forms of violence often intersect and exist along a continuum between the online and offline spheres, with severe consequences for survivors’ mental health, safety, relationships and professional opportunities.

In the case of violence in the workplace, technology-facilitated gender-based violence can manifest in multiple ways: from sexist jokes in a chat group to coercive control through workplace monitoring software, technology can facilitate new ways of undermining, silencing or punishing women. Women can be subjected to continuous practices of bullying and intimidation by colleagues or supervisors, sexual harassment through emails, messaging platforms or video calls, doxxing or online threats following whistleblowing or public visibility, and today, thanks to generative AI, also through the circulation of deepfakes or image-based abuse targeting employees. And while each personal experience may shape the way technology is used to cause harm, technology-facilitated gender-based violence in the workplace is not limited to direct interpersonal abuse, but also encompasses more structural and indirect forms of harm. This includes, for example, algorithmic bias or automated decision-making systems that discriminate against women or LGBTQ+ workers. A well-known example is Amazon’s recruitment algorithm, which was found to systematically downgrade applications that included the word »women« (for example, »women’s chess club«), which effectively reproduces gender inequalities in hiring. 

From an occupational safety and health perspective, the implications of technology-facilitated gender-based violence are more than significant. Not only can the psychological and emotional toll of harassment and abuse lead to anxiety, depression, burnout and other stress-related disorders, but these experiences create unsafe work environments in which women feel that they are constantly being watched or threatened, eroding trust, collaboration and overall well-being. Moreover, the reputational harm caused by phenomena such as image-based abuse or online defamation can severely damage women’s professional trajectories, leading to career stagnation or even forced exits from the workforce.

Despite these consequences, many organisations have still not recognised digital abuse as a workplace safety issue. Reporting mechanisms are often unclear or non-existent, and company policies rarely address online misconduct that occurs outside official communication channels. In some cases, such as the Italian example mentioned above, even public denunciations have been met with anger, scepticism and reluctance to remove those responsible from positions of power. This creates a hostile climate for victims who report digital harassment, leaving them vulnerable to retaliation or disbelief and further reinforcing cultures of silence.

Organisations must move beyond compliance-based gender policies and integrate digital safety into their occupational health and equality frameworks. Relevant international instruments, including ILO Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work and the EU Directive on combating violence against women (2024), establish obligations on employers to prevent and address gender-based violence, including in digital environments. Concretely, this includes measures such as: developing clear anti-technology-facilitated gender-based violence policies that define unacceptable behaviours and establish accessible and confidential reporting channels; adopting zero-tolerance statements and ensuring accountability through transparent investigation and sanctioning processes; providing gender-sensitive digital literacy training for all employees, including sessions on recognising and preventing digital harassment and understanding the ethical use of workplace technologies; training managers and OSH officers to identify signs of technology-facilitated gender-based violence and support affected workers appropriately; and auditing workplace technologies (for example, monitoring tools, AI systems, communication platforms) for potential risks and gender bias.

As work becomes increasingly digital, protecting employees from online harassment, monitoring and discrimination must be seen as an essential OSH responsibility and duty of care. Ensuring gender-responsive digital safety is central to safeguarding mental health, equal career participation and workplace dignity. We cannot allow digital infrastructures to reproduce or amplify gendered harms that women have long faced offline. It is essential that we act now to ensure safe, inclusive and equitable workplaces in the digital age.