The New Battlefield: Digital violence against women and girls

The messages started late at night: doctored photos, slurs about her caste and clothes, and a rumour that she had “sold out” to a rival party.

- TDG NETWORK

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For a young municipal councilor in a north Indian town, the trolling did not stay online for long. Strangers began trailing her bike, relatives asked her to “tone down” her speeches, and party colleagues suggested she should hand over her social media accounts to a male aide.

It is this continuum - from abuse in comment threads to threats on the street - that the UN's 2025 campaign on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is trying to capture with its theme: “UNITE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls.” In India, UN Women has partnered with actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu to spotlight trolling, non-consensual image sharing, doxxing and deepfakes as forms of gender-based violence, not just stalking; almost one in five cut back on social media use as a result. Newer analyses by UN agencies estimate that between 16% and 58% of women worldwide have faced technology-facilitated gender-based violence.