Uniting to End Digital Violence – 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is a global civil society led campaign that runs from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, International Human Rights Day, underscoring that violence against women remains the most pervasive breach of human rights worldwide. Launched in 1991 by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute, the campaign has mobilized individuals, civil society, governments, and international organizations to advocate for the elimination of violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Each year, the campaign calls on the world to stand up against gender-based violence. In 2025, the message resonates even louder as we are being called to confront a form of violence that has evolved with the times digital violence against all women and girls. The Wikimedia Foundation Gender team joins this global movement by collaborating with and amplifying UNFPA’s work on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TF-GBV), using open knowledge and collective advocacy to shine a light on the intersection between technology, gender, and safety online.

It is not just a matter of online arguments or harsh words. What we are dealing with now is organized, tech-driven harm: Image-based abuse, deepfake pornography, coordinated disinformation, and more ( UNWomen,2024). Harmful content against women has spread across the internet, with this kind of content  no longer rare and has become  normalized. It affects how people think, spreads unfair ideas, and stops traditionally marginalized groups from speaking up (United Nations Regional Information Centre, 2023). As a movement, this matters to us too. Within the Wikimedia movement, we are not just observers of digital culture, we are contributors to it. When digital spaces become sites of harm, we feel the impact in our communities and are responsible for shaping what happens next.

Understanding the Landscape of Digital Gender-Based Violence

Digital violence takes many forms such as cyberbullying, doxxing, revenge porn, online stalking, coordinated hate (UNFPA, 2024). It is increasingly sophisticated, sometimes using generative AI to create non-consensual explicit content. And though it is virtual, its effects are adverse. Individuals who endure this kind of abuse often withdraw from public life,some censor themselves, and some stop participating entirely. What happens online silences people offline (FCDO, 2023).

One troubling reality? Around 90–95% of all deepfakes online are pornographic, and the vast majority of them target women (Gould, 2024). Technology is being weaponized, and it is women* who are overwhelmingly in the crossfire.

What Other Organizations Are Doing

Across the world, many organizations are also stepping up during the 16 Days of Activism to address digital violence. UN Women continues to lead global advocacy on technology-facilitated violence, running public awareness campaigns and policy dialogues with governments to strengthen protection frameworks

UNFPA is supporting countries to build survivor-centered response systems and has released practical guidance on addressing TF-GBV, helping service providers understand how technology is being weaponized against women and girls.

Civil society networks such as the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) are training women and gender-diverse groups on digital safety, running feminist digital security workshops, and documenting cases of online harm to push for accountability.

Feminist groups globally are also hosting hackathons, online teach-ins, art interventions, and social-media advocacy to highlight digital abuses and amplify survivor voices for example, the Take Back the Tech! campaign, which focuses specifically on ending online violence during the 16 Days of Activism Campaign.
Together, these efforts show that the push to end digital violence goes far beyond any one organization.

How the Wikimedia Movement Is Responding

The good news? Our movement is not standing still.

Across Wikimedia communities, people are working to make our platforms safer and more inclusive. For example, Projects like Art+Feminism are leading the charge by making sure that events and spaces are brave, welcoming, and harassment-free for everyone regardless of gender, race, sexuality, or background. At the Wikimedia Foundation, we have seen programs such as the Anti-Harassment Program, that envisioned to build a culture of trust and safety across Wikimedia projects by tackling harassment, supporting victims, standardizing enforcement, and ultimately ensuring that every contributor can participate freely and confidently. Currently,  The human rights team is developing an Online GBV Resource Center while the Gender Team – Community Development in collaboration with the Trust and Safety team and  community members, are in the process of co-designing a Community Care Tool Kit aimed at  building a healthier Wikimedia culture by helping volunteers and affiliates recognize harm, respond with restorative approaches, support one another safely, and strengthen referral and care practices across the movement. We also have our Universal Code of Conduct, a policy designed to ensure civility and inclusion across the board.

Taking Action: What We Can All Do

This campaign is not just about awareness, it is about action and here is where each of us can step in.

• Be an ally – Whether you are on a talk page or social media, don’t be silent. Call out harmful language. Support those who are being targeted. Small gestures like rephrasing a comment, or checking in with someone privately can make a big difference.

• Host or join training – Digital safety and literacy matter, especially for newcomers. Organize a workshop. Teach people how to recognize misinformation, secure their accounts, and understand their rights online. Ensure meaningful participation of women and girls in their diversity (including Indigenous women, women with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people, amongst others).
  
• Edit with purpose. Wikimedia is a platform for knowledge. Use it to improve articles on digital violence, online safety, or laws related to cybercrime. Translate them, make them visible. Let marginalized voices and expertise lead the way.
  
• Support feminist movements. You don’t have to do it alone. Partner with women’s rights organizations. Join forces with NGOs working at the intersection of gender and tech. Reach out to UN Agencies such as UNFPA and UNWomen and collaborate during campaigns, contribute your skills, time, or platform to amplify their work.
  
• Lead with care – Make inclusive language the norm. Respect pronouns, acknowledge people’s lived experiences and encourage others to model supportive behavior. This work is not just about policies, it is about culture.
  
• Push for accountability – Tech platforms don’t change unless we demand it. Whether it is through petitions, open letters, or advocacy efforts, use your voice to insist on stronger safeguards and transparent moderation systems.
  

All these steps reflect one core belief: digital violence doesn’t just go away on its own. It takes everyone, governments, platforms, communities, and individuals to shift the norm.

Call to action!

The 16 Days of Activism is not just another campaign. It is an urgent invitation to act and act now!

If you contribute to Wikimedia in any capacity, this is your moment. Improve coverage. Join conversations. Organize an event. Help make these spaces safer. Encourage your local groups to participate. Make sure gender-sensitivity and safety are part of the conversation from the first edit to the final review.

This isn’t about fixing everything overnight. But with each action, each conversation, each collective step, each read read, we move closer to the kind of internet and the kind of movement we want to be part of.

The asterisk in women* reflects an intentionally inclusive framing that recognizes women, LGBTQ+ communities, and other gender-marginalized groups who continue to face similar patterns of exclusion and oppression.

References

1. APC. (n.d.). Feminist internet. Association for Progressive Communications. https://www.apc.org/en/project/feminist-internet
2. FCDO. (2023). Technology-facilitated gender-based violence: Preliminary landscape analysis. UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64abe2b21121040013ee6576/Technology_facilitated_gender_based_violence_preliminary_landscape_analysis.pdf
3. Gould, C. (2024). Fake porn causes real harm to women. Policy Options. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2024/02/fake-porn-harm/
4. Take Back the Tech. (n.d.). Take Back the Tech! Campaign. https://takebackthetech.net/
5. UNFPA. (2024). Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TF-GBV). United Nations Population Fund. https://www.unfpa.org/TFGBV
6. United Nations Regional Information Centre. (2023). How technology-facilitated gender-based violence impacts women and girls. UNRIC. https://unric.org/en/how-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-impacts-women-and-girls/
7. UN Women. (2024). FAQs: Digital abuse, trolling, stalking, and other forms of technology-facilitated violence against women. UN Women.
   https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/faqs/digital-abuse-trolling-stalking-and-other-forms-of-technology-facilitated-violence-against-women
8. UN Women. (n.d.). UNiTE to End Violence Against Women Campaign. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/unite

Reach out to Bridgit Kurgat (Gender Lead, Wikimedia Foundation) at bridgitk-ctr@wikimedia.org if you need support for your campaigns or partnership referrals.