Relatively new but rapidly growing, cyber-violence against women is an emerging form of gender-based abuse. From doxxing to deepfake technology generating non-consensual intimate or manipulated images, it can have devastating effects on victims. Dr Eleonora Esposito, a researcher and gender-based violence expert, spoke to EESC Info about the legal tools available to EU legislators to tackle perpetrators and the obligations that should be placed on social media platforms to tackle such abuse at its root.

Cyber‑violence against women is a relatively new dimension of gender‑based abuse. In your view, how has its rapid expansion reshaped the everyday lives and safety strategies of women around the globe?

Most forms of cyber-violence against women and girls operate along a continuum between digital and physical spaces, where harm that begins online can spill over into victims’ professional, social, or personal lives. 

For example, doxxing, the publication of private information such as a home address or phone number, can expose victims to stalking, harassment or threats in the physical world. Also, the non-consensual dissemination of intimate or manipulated images can quickly circulate online but can also affect employment prospects, educational opportunities and personal relationships. Victims frequently report needing to change jobs, move homes, or withdraw from public activities as a result.

Cyber-violence produces a chilling effect. Women increasingly adopt protective strategies such as limiting personal information online, adjusting privacy settings, moderating their presence on certain platforms, or avoiding controversial topics altogether. This dynamic is particularly visible in fields such as politics, journalism and academia, where public engagement is part of professional life.

In turn, when women observe the scale and intensity of abuse directed at others, they often choose to self-censor and disengage from online discussions. The result is not only individual harm but also a broader democratic consequence: the narrowing of the range of voices able to participate safely in digital public spaces.

Deep‑fake technology using AI now allows perpetrators to generate non‑consensual intimate imagery from a single photograph. Are there practical measures that you think could curb this alarming trend in the short term?

In the EU context, the Digital Services Act (DSA) already requires Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) to implement effective measures to address illegal and harmful content. In particular, VLOPs are required to assess systemic risks, including those affecting fundamental rights, and to adopt proportionate mitigation measures, such as improving content moderation systems. In addition, the DSA obliges all platforms to provide user-friendly notice-and-action mechanisms for reporting illegal content and prioritises reports from trusted flaggers. Together, these provisions create a framework that pushes platforms to strengthen detection and removal systems, including automated tools where appropriate.

The AI Act also introduces transparency obligations for synthetic content and requires that AI-generated or manipulated content, including deepfakes, be clearly disclosed or labelled as artificial. To support implementation, the European Commission is developing a Code of Practice on the marking and labelling of AI-generated content.

Explicitly criminalising non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated content, helps close existing gaps in legal systems across the EU and provides a stronger deterrent. At EU level, the new Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence is particularly relevant, as it introduces EU-wide criminalisation of certain forms of cyber violence, including the non-consensual sharing of intimate material.

Closer cooperation between platforms, law enforcement and trusted organisations is the most effective way to accelerate detection, takedown processes and the preservation of evidence, reducing the harm caused to victims.

You were Project Manager of the 2022 EU‑wide ‘Cyber‑Violence against Women and Girls’ initiative at the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), which helped build a continent‑level measurement framework. Which indicators or methodological steps proved to be most decisive in mapping the problem?     

Across the EU, legal and statistical definitions vary significantly. Establishing common conceptual categories is a key step in enabling more comparable data collection across Member States. 

The framework relies on sex-disaggregated data and a gender perspective in data collection. Recording the sex of both victims and perpetrators, as well as the relationship between them, allows researchers to identify patterns of gender-based violence in online abuse. 

A multi-source methodology has proven necessary. Surveys, police records, social services data, and academic studies each capture different aspects of the phenomenon. Surveys are important because cyber-violence is often under-reported, meaning administrative data alone would underestimate the scale of the problem. Combining these sources helps build a more accurate picture of prevalence and impact. 

Finally, the framework follows victim-centred and intersectional principles. Data collection needs to account for the diverse experiences of women, including those facing multiple forms of discrimination, and to capture the continuum between online and offline violence. Recognising these intersections helps ensure that measurement reflects the real dynamics of digital gender-based abuse rather than treating it as a purely technical issue. 

The project's policy brief offers evidence‑based recommendations for online platforms. What are the most impactful changes you would like to see from social media companies, and how can their compliance be monitored within the EU framework?

The most impactful change would be a shift from reactive moderation to prevention by design. Platforms should build stronger safeguards against gender-based abuse into their systems from the start, better detection of coordinated harassment, faster removal of non-consensual content, stronger protection for repeat targets, and safer default settings for privacy and contactability. 

As for monitoring compliance, the EU now has a more concrete toolbox than before. Under the DSA, compliance can be scrutinised through risk assessments, transparency obligations, independent audits and data access powers, thanks to enforcement by the European Commission and national Digital Services Coordinators. These authorities can request information, inspect compliance and impose sanctions where platforms fail to meet their obligations. 

Dr. Eleonora Esposito is a Researcher at the Institute for Culture and Society (University of Navarra, Spain) and currently serves as a Seconded National Expert at the European Commission (Unit F3 - Protection of Minors and other Societal Risks, DG CONNECT). In this role, she contributes to the enforcement of the Digital Services Act and acts as Team Leader for work on gender-based violence as a systemic risk under the DSA. Prior to joining the Commission, she worked at the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) as a researcher in the Gender-Based Violence Unit, where she served as Project Manager for the portfolio on cyber violence against women and girls.