Technology Facilitated Violence against Women and Girls
The new Council of Europe Recommendation on Accountability for Technology Facilitated Violence against Women and Girls is the first international legal standard focused on this topic.
The Recommendation provides guidance for Council of Europe member States on enhancing their legal, institutional and regulatory responses to technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, and proposes a comprehensive notion of accountability, extending beyond criminal law to civil and administrative fields.
The Recommendation and its Explanatory Memorandum
The purpose of the Recommendation is to provide guidance to member States by proposing a comprehensive approach to foster an environment of accountability in which technology facilitated violence against women and girls is neither facilitated, condoned, accepted nor ignored.
Central points of the Recommendation are its victim-centred and trauma-informed approach, together with an emphasis on the engagement of multiple stakeholders – civil society, victims, the private sector, the media, education institutions. The Recommendation also calls for accessible justice systems, including to prevent secondary victimisation, and for a safety-by-design approach to make sure that products and services of technology companies do not facilitate violence.
How does the Recommendation work?
Legal Accountability
- Review and strengthening of existing laws and policies
- Clear, precise, and technology-neutral legal definitions
- Criminalisation of acts of technology-facilitated violence against women and girls
- Liability for aiding, abetting, inciting, or attempting such offences
- Removal of unlawful content
- Civil and administrative measures alongside criminal law
Responsibilities for technology companies and internet intermediaries
- Integration of safety-by-design and human rights risk assessments
- Effective content moderation practices
- Transparent policies and terms of service
- User-friendly and transparent reporting systems
- Cooperation with authorities
Prevention
- A prevention framework tackling root causes, including sexism, gender stereotypes and systemic discrimination
- Education, awareness-raising, and digital literacy initiatives
- Multi-stakeholder engagement: civil society, media, private sector, youth, men and boys
- Support for positive online counter-narratives
Core Principles
- Human rights-based approach
- Gender-transformative and intersectional perspective
- Victim-centred and trauma-informed approach
- Inclusive, age-appropriate, and child-friendly responses
- Respect for human rights, including freedom of expression
- Recognition of technology-facilitated violence as part of a broader continuum of violence
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Timeline
The Committee of Experts on combating technology-facilitated violence against women and girls (GEC/PC-eVIO), a joint subcommittee to the Council of Europe Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) and the Gender Equality Commission (GEC) concluded its work on 2 October 2025, having elaborated both the draft Recommendation and its Explanatory Memorandum.
(done)1 October 2024
Set up and first meeting of the Committee of Experts on combating technology-facilitated violence against women and girls (GEC/PC-eVIO)
(done)26 November 2025
Joint approval of the draft Recommendation by the Council of Europe Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) and the Gender Equality Commission (GEC)
(done)4 March 2026
Adoption of the new Recommendation by the Committee of Ministers
10 June 2026
Launch of the Recommendation
Who was involved?
Under the authority of the Council of Europe Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) and the Gender Equality Commission (GEC), the Committee of Experts on combating technology-facilitated violence against women and girls (GEC/PC-eVIO) was tasked by the Committee of Ministers to draft the Recommendation.
The GEC/PC-eVIO was composed of experts with established expertise in the fields of preventing and combating violence against women and girls and of criminal law and procedure, with experience and knowledge related to technology-facilitated violence, including representatives appointed by member States, by other bodies and sectors of the Council of Europe, in particular related intergovernmental committees and the Parliamentary Assembly. Other international and supranational organisations participated at certain stages of the drafting process, including the European Union. An exchange of views with two main digital actors (META and Google) took place.
