Digital Violence Against Women: Legislative and Discursive Changes

• In Event: Policy Panel: International Justice Issues

Abstract

A survey conducted in Slovenia involving 5,000 young people aged between 12 and 18 revealed that boys are the most frequent perpetrators of online harassment and the serious consequences of online harassment experienced by girls. Legislative frameworks struggle to keep pace with rapid technological developments and the emerging threats these pose to the lives and safety of women and girls. As a result, states are frequently compelled to expand the scope of existing legislation—originally intended to address very different offences—which may not adequately capture the specific nature and harm of violence occurring in the digital sphere. This paper seeks to examine the legislative efforts and standards of the European Union and the Council of Europe, in particular, GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women, The Istanbul Convention, and GREVIO Baseline Evaluation Reports for several countries. Our findings are supported by interviews conducted with NGOs, women support organisations, the police, a designated national computer security incident response team, academics in the field of domestic violence. These documents and fieldwork provide essential insights into the evolving legal and policy landscape, offering a framework for strengthening protections against digital violence targeting women and girls.

Author

• Ales Zavrsnik, Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law Ljubljana