Defending Democracy in the Digital Age: Gender, Power and Participation

What We Learned at CSW70

At the 70th Commission on the Status of Women, UNDP convened a high-level dialogue on one of the most urgent governance challenges of our time: how to protect women’s democratic participation amid the rapid rise of Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TFGBV). The event was co-hosted by the Republic of Korea, the UK Center for Protecting Women Online (CPWO) and UNDP’s Governance, Rule of Law and Peacebuilding Hub and Gender Team, with support from Denmark, Luxembourg and the Republic of Korea Funding Windows, through partnership with the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) and the Women Environment Human Rights Defender’s initiative. It brought together global experts, activists and policymakers from Brazil, India, Nigeria, Switzerland, Uganda, the Republic of Korea, the UK, the US, and the UN system. Their message was unequivocal: online violence is eroding the foundations of democracy and the world is not keeping pace.

TFGBV: A Threat to Democracy

Opening the event, Chang Seok Han, Consul and Police Attaché at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in New York underscored that TFGBV is a rapidly escalating human rights threat, with speed, anonymity, and AI making it increasingly difficult to prosecute crimes designed to silence women and erode human dignity. He emphasized Korea’s commitment—through survivor‑centred approaches and its partnership with UNDP—to strengthening cross‑border digital enforcement and safeguarding online spaces so women can participate safely and equally in public life.

Building on these concerns, Sarah Lister, Co-Director of Governance, Rule of Law and Peacebuilding Hub, UNDP emphasized that multilateralism, peace and democracy are under mounting strain, making it more urgent than ever to confront the digital attacks that drive women out of political spaces. She called for survivor‑centred, human‑rights‑based leadership and stronger collaboration with partners like KNPA to secure digital spaces as a prerequisite for achieving true “democracy for all.”

Panellists included Professor Müge Finkel, Director, Ford Institute for Human Security, University of Pittsburgh; Professor Mariana Valente, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; Angela Nakafeero, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Uganda; Joanita Babirye, Lead & Head of Strategy, Girls for Climate Action, Uganda; Elsa Marie D’Silva, CEO, Red Dot Foundation; Esther Eghobamien-Mshelia, UN CEDAW Committee Representative, Nigeria and the event was moderated by Revai Makanje Aalbaek, Senior Adviser Rule of Law, UNDP and Professor Olga Jurasz, Director, Centre for Protecting Women Online (CPWO).

In the discussion, panellists underscored what many women leaders already know firsthand: digital tools are being weaponized to silence women at scale. Women in politics are now 27 times more likely than men to be targeted by online violence. The attacks are not accidental or isolated—they are strategic campaigns designed to push women out of public life, from parliament to local environmental movements.

This violence is highly intersectional. In the United States, Asian and African American women face physical threats at twice the rate of others. In Brazil, Black women political candidates are disproportionately attacked for their race, appearance, and identity—not their policy positions.

The result is a “silent withdrawal”: widespread self-censorship and women stepping back from leadership roles to protect themselves and their families. Online violence has become a barrier to democratic participation.

Global Realities: Legal Progress, Implementation Gaps

Countries are acting, but implementation often lags far behind need:

• Uganda: A landmark national survey found that 49% of women experience online violence, yet perpetrators are often more technologically sophisticated than enforcement systems, with young environmental defenders increasingly targeted to silence their advocacy. Through the Women Environment Defenders Initiative and tools such as eMonitor+, UNDP is helping expose these attacks and strengthen protections so women and girls can participate safely in public life.
• Brazil: Despite innovative legislation, only 12 official reports of online political violence were processed during the 2022 electoral period—none reaching a decision in time.
• India: The Red Dot Foundation reports an “invisible data gap”: 90% of victims never report incidents due to shame, fear, or distrust.
• Republic of Korea: A promising model integrates survivor-centred approaches with cross-border enforcement, including a long standing partnership with the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA).

Across all regions, panellists stressed that laws exist, but systems are not yet designed to protect women online in real time.

Algorithms, AI, and the Industrialization of Misogyny

A major concern raised was the structural role of technology companies. Algorithms are not neutral; they amplify misogyny “at industrial scale,” rewarding inflammatory content for profit. The rapid rise of generative AI, such as the proliferation of deepfakes, has weaponized this further to make it easier than ever to create hyper-realistic, non-consensual content designed to silence women. At the same time, researchers are losing access to platform data—hindering evidence-based policy. And in courtrooms, perpetrators increasingly claim that legitimate evidence of their crimes is “AI-generated,” not only complicating prosecution but also leaving survivors without justice. Without transparency and accountability, panellists warned, tech platforms will continue to normalize online harassment at the “cost” of public participation.

From 30% to 50%: Raising the Standard for Representation

CEDAW experts called for a paradigm shift: parity—not 30%—must be the global benchmark for women’s democratic participation. They urged governments to draw on CEDAW General Recommendations, including on TFGBV, cyberbullying, women’s leadership and digital stereotyping. These frameworks can help states craft legislation that recognizes TFGBV as a structural barrier to equality—not a side issue of online behaviour.

What Needs to Happen Next

Several clear priorities emerged:

• Reframe online violence as a governance issue, not a “free speech” dilemma.
• Shift from reactive policing to survivor-centred protection, with anonymous reporting options and sensitivity training.
• Demand accountability from technology companies, including integrated security features by default.
• Strengthen multilateral cooperation, from cross-border enforcement to research access.
• Recognize online violence as part of broader political strategies—including silencing environmental defenders and young women activists.

Building on Global Insights: From Global Policy Dialogue 2025 to CSW70

This CSW70 discussion builds directly on the findings of the 2025 Global Policy Dialogue on TFGBV, which warned that fragmented institutional responses, the absence of safety‑by‑design standards and weak cross‑border enforcement are leaving women unprotected in the digital sphere. The Dialogue called for whole‑of‑society solutions, from gender‑responsive legislation and survivor‑centred justice systems, safety‑by‑design standards to accountable tech governance. These principles underpin the KNPA–UNDP partnership, as well as the expansion of tools such as eMonitor+, a pioneering digital monitoring tool now detecting thousands of attacks against women in public life, including through the Defenders Initiative, which shows that women are targeted in 84–91% of incidents. By transforming TFGBV into a measurable governance risk, these data are informing policy reforms, counter-speech strategies, and digital safety protocols across multiple countries—demonstrating how technology can be repurposed to protect, rather than silence, women in public life. These same priorities strongly shaped the CSW70 panel’s focus on securing democratic participation against digital threats.

UNDP’s forthcoming TFGBV and Democratic Governance Policy Brief further reinforces these imperatives, offering a roadmap for legal, regulatory, and institutional reforms to address politically targeted digital violence. Together, these global insights and new policy guidance underscore that safeguarding women’s digital participation is inseparable from safeguarding democratic governance and CSW70 serves as a critical platform to translate this agenda into action.

Protecting Digital Space Is Protecting Democracy

As UNDP’s Raquel Lagunas, Head of Gender, reminded the audience, TFGBV is ultimately a governance crisis: it is a direct attack on women’s rights, justice, and democratic participation. We already have the data and many of the laws; what’s missing is the political courage to act, and to confront the misogyny that keeps women deliberately pushed out of public life. Protecting women, especially environmental defenders and those speaking truth to power, demands bold institutional leadership and a cultural shift that refuses to accept online violence as inevitable. Now is the moment to transform will into action and defend democracy by defending women.