New York - Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, UN Women, The Nerve, and partners are releasing a new report highlighting the growing and increasingly sophisticated forms of online violence faced by women in public life-particularly women journalists and media professionals.
According to Tipping point: Online violence impacts, manifestations and redress in the AI age, 12 per cent of women human rights defenders, activists, journalists, media workers, and other public communicators report having experienced the non-consensual sharing of personal images, including intimate or sexual content. Six per cent say they have been victims of "deepfakes," while nearly one in three have received unsolicited sexual advances through digital messaging.
The report reveals that such abuse is often deliberate and coordinated, designed to silence women in public life while undermining their professional credibility and personal reputations. This strategy is already having an impact: 41 per cent of all women respondents said they self-censor on social media to avoid abuse, while 19 per cent reported self-censoring in their professional work as a result of online violence. For women journalists and media workers, the picture is even more concerning, with 45 per cent of this group reporting self-censorship on social media in 2025 (representing a 50 per cent increase since 2020), and almost 22 per cent reporting self-censorship in their work.
Other notable trends point to a rise in legal action and reporting to law enforcement among women journalists and media workers. In 2025, they were twice as likely (22 per cent) to report incidents of online violence to the police compared to 2020 (11 per cent). Nearly 14 per cent are now taking legal action against perpetrators, enablers, or their employers, up from eight per cent in 2020-reflecting growing awareness and a stronger push for accountability.
This violence is taking a serious toll on women's health and well-being. The report reveals that nearly a quarter (24.7 per cent) of women journalists and media workers surveyed have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression connected to the online violence they've experienced, and almost 13 per cent reported being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"AI is making abuse easier and more damaging, and this is fueling the erosion of hard-won rights in a context marked by democratic backsliding and networked misogyny. Our responsibility is to ensure that systems, laws, and platforms respond with the urgency this crisis demands," said Kalliopi Mingerou, UN Women's Chief of the Ending Violence against Women Section.
Significant gaps in legal protection against online violence persist. As the World Bank highlighted last year, fewer than 40 per cent of countries have laws in place to protect women from cyber harassment or cyberstalking. As a result, 44 per cent of the world's women and girls-approximately 1.8 billion people-remain without access to legal protection.
Tipping point: Online violence impacts, manifestations and redress in the AI age is part of a broader series examining how online violence is constraining women's participation in public life in the AI era. The study was commissioned by UN Women under the ACT to End Violence against Women programme, funded by the European Union. It was produced in partnership with researchers from The Nerve's Information Integrity Initiative and City St. George's, University of London, in collaboration with the International Center for Journalists and UNESCO. The report's authors are Dr. Julie Posetti, Kaylee Williams, Dr. Lea Hellmueller, Dr. Pauline Renaud, Nabeelah Shabbir, and Dr. Nermine Aboulez.
