This year to support IWD 2026, we are highlighting an issue that disproportionately affects women and girls – digital violence.
Today on International Women’s Day (IWD) we take part in a day of collective global activism and celebration that belongs to all those committed to forging gender equality. The 2026 theme of Give To Gain emphasizes the power of reciprocity and support:
“Giving is not a subtraction, it’s intentional multiplication. When women thrive, we all rise.
“Whether through donations, knowledge, resources, infrastructure, visibility, advocacy, education, training, mentoring, or time, contributing to women’s advancement helps create a more supportive and interconnected world.”
Digital violence is one of the fastest-evolving forms of abuse worldwide.
Digital violence is abusive behaviour that includes online harassment, hacking, stalking, impersonation, misinformation, defamation, hate speech, violent threats, doxxing, deepfakes, and non-consensual sharing of intimate images. It occurs on social media platforms, messaging apps, online gaming, and smart home devices used for monitoring or remote access.
Women are likely to experience digital violence more frequently than men and have to deal with it over longer periods of time. Amnesty International’s recent research revealed that it is widespread in the UK with one in five women having suffered online abuse or harassment. Almost half of women said the abuse or harassment they received was sexist or misogynistic, with a worrying 27% saying it threatened sexual or physical assault.
While all women and girls are at risk, some women and girls are disproportionately affected including those who are in public life (such as journalists, human rights defenders, politicians, feminist activists), come from a culturally or linguistically diverse background, live with disability, identify as LGBTQIA+, or are experiencing domestic, family or sexual violence .
The 2024 report of the UN Secretary-General on violence against women and girls identified three growing challenges that are intensifying this violence:
- Anti-rights actors are actively working to undermine, stall, or reverse the recognition, protection, and advancement of human rights – their targets include gender equality, LGBT+ rights, racial equality, and immigrant rights. They are increasingly using online spaces to create a hostile digital environment for women and girls.
- The rapid and unregulated growth of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is facilitating the spread of targeted disinformation as well as the proliferation of image-based abuse and deepfake pornographic videos. A 2023 report showed that deepfake pornography made up 98% of all deepfake videos online, and 99% depicted women.
- The expansion of the manosphere, which is an ecosystem of misogynistic content that is seeping into mainstream culture and making its way into schoolyards, workplaces, and intimate relationships. The popularity of extreme language in the manosphere not only normalizes violence against women and girls, but has growing links to radicalization and extremist ideologies.
Social workers have increasingly been targeted through doxxing.
The sensitive nature of social work – of which the majority of practitioners are women – has contributed to social workers being increasingly targeted through doxxing. Doxxing is the deliberate publication of personal information online without consent. This information can include someone’s home address, phone number, and other personal and identifying information.
Doxxing is often done with the intention to intimidate, harass, or undermine confidence in professional practice. It can pose a threat to the safety of not only the person being targeted but also to their family. Some very serious doxxing instances reported by our members led to the development of guidance for journalists on how to responsibly report stories concerning social workers and cases involving vulnerable individuals.
The Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW) and the Social Workers Union (SWU) have also now created a free guide with proactive steps that you can take to protect your digital footprint. This guidance can be used by social workers across the UK and you are welcome to download it and share it with your team and colleagues.