The Council of Europe presented its newly adopted Recommendation on accountability for technology-facilitated violence against women and girls during the OECD Forum on Gender Equality 2026.
Speaking at a session on Tackling gender-based violence in the digital age against women public figures worldwide, Caterina Bolognese, Head of the Gender Equality Division of the Council of Europe, presented the work of the Council of Europe on technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, including CM/Rec(2026)2 which had been adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 4 March 2026. Building on the standards of the Istanbul Convention and GREVIO’s General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women, the Recommendation addresses the growing prevalence of violence that is committed, assisted, aggravated or amplified through or by technology.
The Recommendation provides a comprehensive accountability framework, calling for clear, technology-neutral legal definitions and criminalisation, while also recognising that victims often primarily want unlawful content removed and further victimisation prevented through swift removal orders and measures to reduce resurfacing.
The Recommendation also highlights the importance of training and capacity-building beyond specialised cybercrime units, recognising that victims may first seek support from professionals who need to be equipped to respond appropriately. It adopts an intersectional approach, acknowledging that risks and impacts may vary depending on cultural, religious, social or other contexts. Finally, it recognises that technology-facilitated violence can silence women and girls and hinder their safe and meaningful participation online, while treating freedom of expression not only as a limit on regulation but also within this broader context.
The Recommendation is placed within the broader Council of Europe work to create an enabling environment for online safety and gender equality, including the Guidance for the development of positive narratives to deflect anti-gender rhetoric, the Guidelines on the place of men and boys in gender equality policies and in policies to combat violence against women, and Recommendation CM/Rec(2026)1 on equality and artificial intelligence.
