On 18 February 2025, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in partnership with local CSOs, within the European Union supported “Gender Equality for Georgia” programme, launched a knowledge sharing and coordination platform to counter technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
Technology-facilitated gender-based violence, similar to other forms of gender-based violence, is also rooted in gender inequality and disproportionately affects women and girls. It is an emerging concern in Georgia, targeting especially those involved in the public sphere who use technology, including but not limited to women politicians, journalists, female business owners, content creators, and youth and people with disabilities.
Evidence shows that, 38% of women globally have personally experienced online violence, while 85% of women have witnessed online violence being committed against another woman. Across Europe and Central Asian countries, the probability of experiencing technology-facilitated gender-based violence is 4 times higher for women aged 18-24 than for those over age 65. Given that a young person in Georgia spends on average 3,7 hours a day on the internet, and 86 percent of young people use social media networks as a tool for social interaction, it puts them under the high risk of exposure to technology facilitated gender-based violence.
Technology-facilitated gender-based violence can be an obstacle to women’s equal participation in public life, silencing women’s voices and limiting their democratic right to representation and participation, reinforcing gender inequality, patriarchal power structures, and gender norms.
To ensure urgent and coordinated solutions to respond to the existing challenges, UNFPA is initiating creation of a knowledge sharing platform aimed to enhance coordination and support partnerships among national and local actors with a commitment to addressing technology facilitated gender-based violence. More specifically, through periodic meetings, the platform will enhance flow of information and knowledge exchange, foster partnerships, identify gaps in data collection, legislative and programmatic frameworks, and share best practices in response and prevention of technology facilitated gender-based violence.
“At UNFPA, we believe technology is essential to advancing gender equality. When women and girls can safely access and use technology across all spaces, they can amplify their voices, exercise their agency and autonomy – giving them a platform to transform their future. For that mission to be a reality we need strong partnerships and coordination within and across sectors,” says UNFPA Programme Manager Marika Kurdadze.
The platform brings together representatives from relevant UN agencies, international development organizations, civil society organizations, gender-based violence related service providers and advocates, feminist and women-led organizations, digital rights and women’s rights advocates, and academic institutions with a commitment to addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
The platform is launched within the framework of the “Gender Equality for Georgia“ programme, funded by the European Union and implemented jointly by UN Women and UNFPA.
