25 Nov 2025 Will you take 16 days to help stop tech-facilitated gender-based violence?
When a woman was elected as the new member of parliament for my area, I was appalled at the misogyny and abusive comments levelled at her personally whenever she posted on her official social media channels.
By WACC Deputy General Secretary Sara Speicher
The tragedy is, what I could see in her feed is minor compared to the gender-based trolling, stalking, threats, doxing, online grooming, and more that millions experience online. Such abuse impacts mental health, affects lives and livelihoods, and silences especially women and girls.
Why focus on digital violence against women and girls?
In announcing “End digital violence against all women and girls” as the 2025 theme for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, UN Women stated:
“Online and digital spaces should empower women and girls. Yet every day, for millions of women and girls the digital world has become a minefield of harassment, abuse, and control. …
“Digital violence targets women more than men, across all walks of life, but especially those with public or online visibility – such as activists, journalists, women in politics, human rights defenders, and young women.
“The impact is even worse for women facing intersecting forms of discrimination, including race, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
Where are the TFGBV headlines?
Tech-facilitated gender-based violence, or TFGBV, is a major, and seemingly increasing, obstacle to gender equality. Yet, this form of egregious human rights abuse hardly makes the news.
In its last several editions, WACC’s Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) has tracked news coverage on gender-based violence (GBV) – and the results are shocking.
Though such violence affects one in three women worldwide, stories about GBV make up less than 2% of all articles, according to 2025 GMMP key findings.
Of the stories that do cover GBV, fewer than one out of ten is about tech-facilitated gender-based violence. This despite the omnipresence of information technologies in most people’s daily lives.
This is a problem because GBV visibility in the news more generally, and TFGBV in particular, is important for raising awareness of, responding to, and preventing it, with proven links between news coverage and a rise in help-seeking behaviour.
What tools are available to take action?
In 2024, WACC adapted the GMMP methodology to social media and developed a training kit to monitor social media feeds for misogyny. In pilot testing, results were eye-opening, even for those who expect to see gender-based discrimination and abuse levelled against public figures.
Taking part in GMMP news monitoring raises awareness as well as gathers evidence for advocacy. Doing social media monitoring has a similar impact. Social media watchers learn about the types and prevalence of microaggressions in our social media feeds – and how such microaggressions, which fly under the radar of other monitoring tools, create toxic online environments for women and girls.
It’s clear that tackling TFGBV requires action at all levels, from individuals to governments. You – and groups or organizations you are involved in – can play a critical role.
During the 16 Days, you can discover stories on our social media channels about WACC project partners using the social media tool and the impact it has had. You can try out the tool too! The toolkit has all you need to train as a social media watcher, and is available in English, Spanish, French, and German.
On 9 December, in time for Human Rights Day and the conclusion of 16 Days, you can join us for the launch of the full report of the 2025 GMMP including recommendations for action.
There is indeed #NoExcuse for online abuse. Join WACC and millions of others bringing digital abuse out into the open and taking steps for change. Together, we can make our online spaces safer for all.
5 Steps to Help End Digital Violence
- Share our 16 Days posts on social media using #StopTFGBV.
- Download the Taking Action against TFGBV Toolkit. Bring a group together for social media monitoring and share your results with us.
- Register for the 9 December launch of the 2025 GMMP Global Report and encourage others to attend as well.
- Check out the 2025 GMMP Highlights ahead of the Global Report launch, especially Key Finding 2 on news coverage of GBV.
- Call for change with your local political representatives, media agencies, and social media companies.
Learn More
Register for the launch of the GMMP 2025 Global Report on 9 December.
Learn more about WACC’s joint initiative to promote gender justice online.
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