As millions of women embrace digital technology, the promise of empowerment is shadowed by a new peril. UNFPA warns that although the internet lets girls “learn, create and explore the world,” “digital violence against them has become so pervasive that many now say they ‘expect’ to experience it”.
In fact, UNFPA defines technology‑facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) as violence that is “committed, assisted, aggravated and amplified by the use of information and communication technologies” against a person based on gender.
This includes a wide spectrum of online abuse, including sextortion, non-consensual image-sharing, cyberstalking, doxxing, hate speech, cyberbullying, deepfakes, and more. Such violence has “significant health, safety, political, and economic consequences,” silencing women’s voices and even bleeding into offline life.
Global patterns reveal a crisis. Surveys show about 38% of women worldwide have experienced online violence. Regionally, 60% of Arab women internet users report abuse, over half in Eastern Europe and Central Asia report cyber harassment, and 28% of sub-Saharan African women report online violence.
Even in wealthy countries roughly one-quarter of women say they’ve faced online harassment. Paradoxically, this is no fringe issue: up to 95% of online harassment is aimed at women, forcing an estimated 60% of affected women offline and widening the gender digital divide.
UNDP notes that digital abuse bleeds into every aspect of life, attacking human rights and undermining democracy. Elected women and journalists are especially targeted: 44% of women parliamentarians and 73% of women reporters worldwide report severe digital attacks.
Economically, online abuse costs billions for example, Malawi reports 76% of low‑income women entrepreneurs lost income due to online harassment, and Australia estimates a US$3.7 billion annual cost from digital violence.
International organizations are sounding the alarm. UNFPA’s “Making All Spaces Safe” programme provides survivors of online abuse with holistic support and advocates tougher laws, digital literacy, and privacy-by-design in technology.
UN Women is pushing for rigorous data collection and global policy norms against online gender violence. In partnership with UNICEF and APC, UNFPA co‑leads the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, leveraging collective expertise.
The World Bank emphasizes that fewer than 40% of countries even have cyber‑harassment laws, leaving roughly 1.8 billion women unprotected. Its experts highlight “safety‑by‑design” features in digital platforms from built-in reporting tools to sophisticated AI content moderation as crucial innovations to shield women online.
Despite the grim picture, advocates note that technology is not inherently hostile; it can empower women. As UNFPA’s Executive Director Diene Keita has emphasized, tech expands opportunities for women, but “the same technologies often created with good intentions can be used to cause harm.”
She warns that tactics of online abusers constantly evolve, and what happens “online all too often translates into real-world violence”.
Protection, she says, requires multi-pronged solutions: apps and platforms designed with ethics and safety in mind, rapid responses to reported abuse, and robust legal systems that hold perpetrators accountable.
Technology-Facilitated GBV in Pakistan
Pakistan’s digital boom has brought this global scourge home. By 2024 Pakistan had some 143 million internet users (around 60% of the population), yet protections have not kept pace. Local helplines and surveys reveal alarming levels of tech‑driven abuse.
The Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) reports that 3,171 complaints of technology-facilitated GBV were filed in 2024 alone. Over eight years its helpline has handled more than 20,000 cases (about 264 per month). Notably, women filed 1,772 of the 3,171 complaints in 2024, and DRF data show 90% of cyber-harassment reports involve female victims.
A 2023 study by Pakistan’s National Commission on the Status of Women found nearly 40% of women surveyed had experienced online bullying or harassment.
Yet under-reporting is severe: one study estimated 65% of Pakistani women never report online abuse, often due to stigma, fear, or lack of trust in the justice system.
Official law enforcement figures underscore the scale of digital crime. The Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crime Wing logged 136,024 complaints in 2022 and 134,710 in 2023, after 115,868 cases in 2021. In 2023 the FIA verified 82,396 complaints and registered 1,375 formal cases (FIRs), but obtained just 92 convictions, a rate under 4%.
Pakistan’s new National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (established 2024) handled 171,600 complaints in its first year, a 12.7% increase again with scant successful prosecutions. This trend reflects a grim reality: online violence is rising, but impunity is rampant.
The digital gender gap in Pakistan adds context. In the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, Pakistan ranked last (148/148). Its scores show very low female economic and political participation.
As the Dawn editorial “Web of Darkness” notes, this inequality underpins why cyberabuse is “not a marginal issue”: it curtails women’s access to education, employment and politics. For many Pakistani women, threats in the digital realm have real-world consequences.
There have even been cases of technology-facilitated femicide: for example, the killing of a 17-year-old social media personality was linked to online harassment.
Activists say laws like the 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) cover cyberstalking and image-based abuse, but gaps remain: PECA does not explicitly protect female journalists or recognize misogynistic violence as TFGBV.
United Nations and International Initiatives
To tackle TFGBV, Pakistan’s UN agencies are mobilizing alongside global efforts. During the 2025 16 Days of Activism launch in Islamabad, UN Women and partners held events in five cities on the theme of online safety. The Human Rights Minister noted “technology has transformed the nature of abuse, and our laws, institutions, and social responses must evolve accordingly”.
UN Women’s Christine Arab urged that when “innovation is shaped by gender equality, we create digital spaces where women and girls are not just included, but protected, empowered and able to thrive”.
UN Resident Coordinator Pernille Ironside warned bluntly:
“We cannot let online platforms become yet another space where women and girls are silenced. We must urgently adapt the legislation to evolving technologies and end the impunity of both perpetrators and online platforms.”.
UN agencies emphasize coordinated action. UNFPA leads Pakistan’s work on TFGBV through its Making All Spaces Safe initiative supported by Canada, which enhances digital literacy, promotes safety-by-design, and integrates online abuse awareness into education programs.
It will soon launch a Global Response Hub to equip every GBV service provider with guidance on tech-facilitated cases. UNFPA has also partnered with international experts to develop guiding principles for TFGBV law and policy reform, helping Pakistani policymakers update regulations to a rights-based standard.
Globally, UNFPA, UN Women, UNICEF and partners co-chair a Global Partnership on Online Harassment, while UNDP supports whole-of-government programmes (for example, as part of Spotlight Initiative) to embed digital safety in national GBV strategies.
The World Bank and Gates Foundation’s DEEP partnership also operates in Pakistan, planning women’s digital literacy programs that include online safety training.
These multi-stakeholder efforts mirror global calls: the UN has urged tech firms to hire more women, swiftly remove abusive content, and fund women’s rights groups; and it calls for governments to strengthen laws, end impunity, and invest in prevention.
16 Days of Activism: Spotlight on Digital Violence
The 16 Days of Activism against GBV (25 Nov–10 Dec) serves as a global spotlight each year. In 2025 the UNiTE campaign theme is “UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls”.
This underscores that digital safety is a cornerstone of gender equality. During these weeks, Pakistani civil society and UN bodies held art exhibits and forums linking online abuse to offline rights. UN messages emphasized that “online abuse can spill into real life, sometimes leading to physical violence”.
At 16 Days events, survivors testified about cyberstalking and image-based blackmail, and UN DPPA/UNIC organized dialogues urging adaptation of laws to tech and full accountability for perpetrators.
Challenges and Gaps
Despite growing attention, critical gaps persist. Under-reporting remains endemic: many women blame themselves or fear family repercussions, so incidents often never reach authorities.
Police and courts generally lack gender-sensitive training on digital crimes, and evidence collection for tech-savvy abuse is inconsistent. The conviction rate is abysmally low under 4% in recent FIA cases which fuels impunity.
Data systems are also weak: Pakistan’s official cybercrime statistics are not gender-disaggregated and rarely distinguish TFGBV. Meanwhile, online technologies evolve faster than laws and institutions can respond. New AI-driven forms of abuse (deepfakes, automated harassment) are on the rise with little specific legal redress.
Culturally, pervasive gender norms limit women’s online autonomy. The NCSW found only 29% of women felt confident using privacy settings or recognizing non-consensual image-sharing as a crime. Illiteracy, limited internet access and rural-urban divides further hamper safe participation.
The costs of inaction are high. As Dawn’s editorial “Web of Darkness” notes, unchecked cyberabuse erodes women’s confidence to engage publicly: some female politicians have contemplated quitting office due to online threats.
Economically, digital harassment deters women from e-commerce and online jobs, undermining Pakistan’s development prospects. The World Bank reminds us that closing gender gaps online and offline could add trillions to global wealth.
In short, digital violence is not just a women’s issue; it is a societal and developmental priority.
Pathways Forward
Moving beyond awareness requires concrete action on multiple fronts:
- Legislative and Policy Reform. Laws must explicitly cover all TFGBV forms. Pakistan should amend PECA and related statutes to address gaps (for example, explicitly criminalizing online harassment of journalists and recognizing tech‑facilitated femicide).
Laws should allow for civil remedies (damages, injunctions) as well as criminal penalties, as recommended by the World Bank.
Clear legal definitions and victim‑friendly procedures are key. Importantly, enforcement must improve: dedicating trained cybercrime judges and establishing fast‑track courts for online abuse can ensure cases do not languish. - Empowering Law Enforcement and Justice. Police and prosecutors need gender-sensitivity and technical training. Specialist cybercrime units should include female officers and counselors to build trust with victims.
Evidence protocols (like digital forensics) must be strengthened so online abuse is documented effectively. Prosecutors should fast-track TFGBV cases.
Data collection is also critical: agencies (FIA, NCCIA) should track TFGBV cases and outcomes by gender and type of abuse, closing the gap noted by UNFPA. - Digital Literacy and Awareness Programs. Education is a preventive tool. Online safety and digital rights should be taught in schools and women’s training programs, as UNFPA and the World Bank recommend.
Community campaigns (via media and mosques/temples) can raise awareness of legal rights, reporting mechanisms and healthy online norms.
Parents, teachers and youth leaders must be sensitized as UNFPA stresses to help adolescents navigate consent and respect in digital spaces. Programs like UNDP’s Equanomics can integrate online harassment topics into broader gender empowerment initiatives. - Technology by Design. Private sector solutions are crucial. Social media and tech companies must implement safety-by-design features: easy one‑click reporting, robust privacy controls, AI filters for hate content and explicit imagery.
Platforms should recruit more women and gender experts to inform policies, as the UN PR urges. Apps targeted at women (e.g. panic‑button features) should be developed and disseminated. In Pakistan, public-private partnerships could support local tech incubators creating gender-sensitive online tools. - Support Services and Survivor Empowerment. Scaling up helplines and counseling is vital. Civil society organizations like DRF and Rozan need sustained funding to expand hotlines and legal aid for TFGBV victims.
UNFPA’s planned Global Response Hub can be adapted nationally to ensure every survivor has access to specialist guidance, anywhere in Pakistan.
Psychological support must accompany legal processes, to help victims cope with trauma. Importantly, survivors should be active partners: women-led tech initiatives and youth advocates (for example, the firewall labs launched by UN Women) can shape effective responses. - Data, Research and Monitoring. Governments and donors should fund research on TFGBV in Pakistan. Reliable data on prevalence, forms of abuse, and reporting barriers will guide policy. Annual surveys (by NCSW or others) should track trends.
Real-time monitoring tools like UNDP’s eMonitor+ can help track hate speech and disinformation targeting women. Evaluations of new interventions (e.g. the FIA’s cybercrime reforms) should be publicized to refine strategies. - International Cooperation. Digital violence is transnational. Pakistan should engage in cross-border partnerships on cybercrime (e.g. with INTERPOL) and advocate for global standards in AI and platform regulation.
UN forums (Beijing+30 reviews, UN Commission on the Status of Women, Global Digital Compact) offer venues to push for women’s online safety as a human rights imperative. Finally, the world must pressure social media companies headquartered abroad to enforce their policies in Pakistan.
These reforms echo with broader global calls. During the 16 Days campaign, UN agencies outlined similar priorities: global cooperation on platform safety, sustained funding for survivors’ groups, strong accountability for abusers and digital platforms, and long-term investments in digital literacy and culture change.
In this context, the collective efforts of UN agencies and jointly implemented programs and projects are essential to generate measurable and meaningful outcomes. While all UN agencies are actively contributing through their respective technical expertise and collaborative engagements, greater uniformity and alignment of efforts are needed to maximize impact.
Pakistani officials have echoed this roadmap; the Human Rights Minister pledged to “strengthen legal protections” so “every woman and girl can participate in society online and offline with safety, dignity and equality.”
In conclusion, technology holds great promise for women’s empowerment, but only if we act collectively and coherently. As one UN statement notes, we must strive for “a future where all women and girls are empowered, not endangered, by technology.”
Achieving this in Pakistan and beyond will require breaking down offline and online barriers in concert embedding gender equality into the digital sphere and extending robust human rights protections across cyberspace.
The evidence is clear and urgent: as global and Pakistani voices concur, there is no justification for tolerating abuse in the digital age.
Aroosa Salahuddin
Aroosa Salahuddin is a Digital Diplomacy Expert and former Managing Editor of The Diplomatic Insight Magazine. She has extensive experience in media, public relations, project management, and strategic communications. With an MPhil in Strategic Studies and a specialization in Pakistan’s digital diplomacy, Aroosa has worked with influential national and international organizations. Her expertise spans advocacy, crisis communication, digital strategy, and stakeholder engagement.
