Online, refugee women face the threat of digital violence

Please note: This blog discusses sexual assault and other forms of violence. It may be triggering for some readers.

For women fleeing insecurity and persecution, technology can be a lifeline connecting them to vital information, education, livelihoods, protection services, and family and friends. However, refugee women face barriers to accessing online spaces — and, when they do access them, they face elevated protection risks. Unfortunately, alongside helpful resources, digital technology presents new opportunities and tools for abuse.

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence threatens women and girls’ safety and dignity across the globe — an online, less well understood shadow to the offline violence many experience. In order to address this emerging protection risk, it is essential that humanitarian actors understand what it is, how it disproportionately affects displaced women’s lives both online and offline, and which strategies can support the construction of a safer digital world by adapting services to address the needs of survivors.

What is technology-facilitated gender-based violence?

From online sexual harassment to doxxing and hate speech, growing threats to women in digital spaces — known as technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TF GBV) — are amplified in contexts of forced displacement and statelessness. TF GBV is defined as “an act of violence perpetrated by one or more individuals that is committed, assisted, aggravated and amplified in part or fully by the use of information and communication technologies or digital media, against a person on the basis of their gender.” Perpetrators commonly target victims via mobile phones and smartphones, the internet, social media, or email.

Importantly, TF GBV is not less dangerous than or unrelated to offline violence; it is one of several recurring and interconnected forms of gender-based violence affecting women and girls. Online violence affects as many as 38 percent of women — a figure which is higher in situations of forced displacement, where women already face greater insecurity and elevated rates of non-technology-facilitated GBV. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, considers TF GBV a serious and growing threat to forcibly displaced and stateless women and girls.

Digital dangers compound displaced women’s existing vulnerability to physical, sexual, psychological, and economic abuse. Not only can TF GBV cause or worsen severe mental health problems, but it can also easily bleed into physical spaces, encouraging or facilitating sexual violence and femicide (the killing of a woman or girl on the basis of her gender). Further, these threats structurally remove women from online spaces by silencing and undermining their voices, rights, and participation, thereby expanding the digital gender divide and reducing already limited opportunities for displaced women and girls to access online opportunities.

Why are displaced women more at risk?

For many refugees, the online world is a complex, uncertain landscape, in which trust is a scarce commodity. According to Kathryn Mccallister, Gender-based Violence Officer at UNHCR, women forced to flee must often place their faith in the good intentions of strangers, a gamble that can lead to exploitation and abuse. She explains:

“Displaced women and girls are placed in circumstances in which they must make decisions with fewer options. With or without digital literacy, you’re having to figure out: How will I get across this border? How will I find housing once I’ve gone to this new place? That puts them at additional risk.”

Studies indicate that increased levels of TF GBV are experienced by women with overlapping identity markers that could heighten their vulnerability (for instance, displacement status, race, sexual orientation, language, disability, etc.). Women’s intersectional identities — the interaction between women’s experiences with displacement and their age, gender or other diversity factors — shape and often complicate their digital lives. In Uganda, 75 percent of refugee women, compared to 33 percent of women overall, reported facing online violence, including abuse, stalking, and sexual harassment.

While we cannot speak for all 58 million forcibly displaced women and girls around the world, it is worth examining how some of their intersecting identities can create unique challenges and vulnerabilities to TF GBV.

• Digital literacy and skills: Refugee women often have lower levels of digital literacy and skills than men and boys, or women who have not experienced displacement, in part because they have fewer educational and employment opportunities. Even when such opportunities do exist, displacement often interrupts their schooling. This skill gap prevents many refugee women and girls from safely navigating digital spaces.
   
• Legal status: Forcibly displaced and stateless women’s legal status is often leveraged against them by perpetrators of TF GBV. For instance, perpetrators might take advantage of their desperate needs for basic services or threaten them with deportation. Plus, a lack of documentation can limit access to national protection systems, perpetuating digital risks.
   
• Language barriers: Many displaced women face language barriers while navigating digital spaces. This is more so when they explore opportunities and seek assistance on the platforms of host countries where they don’t speak the language. Despite being spoken by only 16% of the global population, English content constitutes more than 50% of all written material online, limiting non-native English speakers’ ability to avoid unsafe situations and seek assistance.
   
• Trauma and social isolation: The trauma experienced during displacement — deriving from the loss of home, community, and security, among other triggers — can leave displaced women in a vulnerable state, both emotionally and psychologically. This vulnerability is compounded by often limited social networks in new environments, which restricts access to support systems and resources. Without a strong support network, displaced women may feel isolated and face a higher risk of experiencing severe GBV.
   

How do these risks manifest in displacement contexts?

UNHCR has witnessed a startling rise in cases of TF GBV across the globe. Kathryn cautions that this is becoming increasingly visible in GBV data trends across displacement contexts, representing a significant shift in trends of violence against refugees.

For instance, since the onset of the Ukraine emergency in 2022, externally and internally displaced Ukrainian women have been subjected to appalling online harassment. Perpetrators have used social media platforms like Telegram and Facebook to lure young women into exploitation, human trafficking, and GBV through false offers of employment, accommodation, or transportation. Social media comments have perpetuated the sexual objectification of refugee women, reinforcing harmful stereotypes that exacerbate vulnerabilities

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With the rise of digital refugee support networks and websites, spotting suspicious online posts and accounts has become increasingly challenging. Many feel particularly vulnerable seeking assistance, such as housing and jobs, yet growing financial insecurity leaves little choice but to use risky online channels. The fear of retribution, feelings of shame, and language barriers deter survivors from seeking help, keeping women locked into cycles of abuse.

How do online dangers bleed into offline lives?

The impacts of TF GBV reach beyond the screens and platforms enabling it, infiltrating every aspect of survivors’ lives. Women often face long-term consequences, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD, leading, in some cases, to suicide attempts. Women targeted by TF GBV may face further consequences in their community, including stigmatization,weakened social bonds, expulsions, firings, and, in the worst case, femicide. TF GBV is also often used to facilitate or contribute to sexual exploitation and intimate partner violence.

More broadly, TF GBV has consequences for digital accessibility and gender equality, intimidating and removing displaced women and girls from online spaces. Accessing online services, education, and employment is challenging enough for women forced to flee, and TF GBV further exacerbates this inequality. Despite these serious, widespread harms, accountability for TF GBV is in short supply.

 

 

How is UNHCR addressing TF GBV?

UNHCR is already working to address this protection threat and empower survivors. Several projects supported by UNHCR’s Digital Innovation Fund have sought to address digital risks, alongside the communities we work with and for: In Hungary, UNHCR developed the “Wise Browsing, Safe Posting” project, producing an online guide to digital safety and a community-based vetting system to report suspicious or malicious posts; in Ecuador, UNHCR worked with nonprofit Girls in Tech to provide internet service, devices, and digital skills training to enable community members to safely access education and digital livelihoods.

 

UNHCR is committed to enabling refugee- and women-led organizations to address the digital gender divide. In 2023, UNHCR conducted its first-ever Digital Gender Inclusion and Innovation Bootcamp to upskill 12 grassroots organizations based in the Middle East and Africa; it also provided seed funding for community-driven projects combating TF GBV and promoting digital gender equality. In 2024, UNHCR is scaling this initiative to upskill 42 women-led organizations across the world and help women and girls safely navigate the digital world.

 

Where to from here?

More comprehensive prevention and response mechanisms — supported by humanitarians, governments, and technology companies — are essential to creating a secure, welcoming digital space for women forced to flee. Despite the pervasive nature of this issue, there remains a significant gap in public data that focuses on the TF GBV affecting displaced women and girls. To inform effective solutions, UNHCR recognizes the urgent need for further research and dedicated resources to better understand risks and drivers. The Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) — led jointly by UNHCR, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and other agencies — can be adapted to better collect data related to TF GBV among displaced women and girls.

 

Fundamentally, responding to TF GBV requires a survivor-centered approach. UNHCR is committed to establishing safe, accessible mechanisms for survivors to seek information and assistance that meet their needs. From developing robust referral pathways for survivors and building capacity for TF GBV responses, to exploring innovative approaches to psychosocial support, UNHCR aims to create a safer digital world that leaves no one behind.

 

Technological innovations can advance displaced women’s inclusion in educational and employment opportunities as well as women’s access to services, but they also pose risks to psychological and physical well-being. As digital use expands, so must our vigilance in ensuring online spaces are safe and accessible for all, including women and girls forced to flee.

If you’re exploring creative approaches to bridge the digital gender divide and promote digital gender equality in displacement settings, we would love to hear from you! Get in touch at hqdiinnov@unhcr.org.