In the margins of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, the Council of Europe is organising a high-level side-event-on Policing the Pixel: Gender, Tech, and Justice. The event is co-organised with the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Moldova to the United Nations, under the Moldovan Presidency of the Committee of Ministers. It will take place on Wednesday, March 11 2026, 4:45 - 6:00 PM (EST) (9:45 – 11:00 PM (CET)) in Room 2 of the General Assembly UN Building. The live UNTV broadcast is available on the event’s page.
This timely gathering addresses the alarming rise in technology-facilitated violence against women and girls (TFVAWG), a phenomenon increasing in both scale and severity but remaining largely underreported and under-prosecuted. As digital technologies become central to daily life, online violence continues to reflect and reinforce systemic gender inequalities, silencing women in public, social, and political spaces, and ultimately threatening the core of democratic systems.
The event will look at how to bridge the gap between cybercrime expertise and the understanding of violence against women and girls. It will explore promising practices, such as the creation of specialised investigative units and improved international cooperation for cross-border data access in line with Council of Europe standards. These steps are essential for strengthening accountability, improving digital evidence management, avoiding secondary victimisation and ensuring survivors’ access to justice.
The event is bringing together political leaders, international partners, police and tech industry representatives as well as civil society. It will be opened by Doina Gherman, Vice-President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and forms a key contribution to the Council of Europe’s New Democratic Pact for Europe through a conversation on how to harness technology for good.
