On 10 June 2026, the Council of Europe launched a new recommendation aiming at strengthening accountability for technology-facilitated violence against women and girls.
Adopted by the Committee of Ministers in March, the recommendation was prepared by the Council of Europe’s Gender Equality Commission and the European Committee on Crime Problems. It provides guidance to European countries on preventing and combating violence committed, assisted, aggravated or amplified through digital technologies. It also sets out measures to ensure that perpetrators, facilitators and, where appropriate, technology companies are held accountable.
Technology-facilitated violence includes cyberstalking, online harassment, the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, privacy violations, misogynistic hate campaigns, threats and image manipulation. Such abuse often accompanies other forms of violence, including domestic violence, allowing perpetrators to extend surveillance, coercion and control through digital tools.
To address these challenges, the recommendation calls for stronger laws and policies, effective investigations and access to justice, improved support services for victims, enhanced international cooperation and greater responsibility for technology companies and online platforms. It also promotes prevention through education, digital literacy and awareness-raising.
The recommendation forms part of the Council of Europe's broader efforts to ensure that women and girls can participate fully, equally and safely in the digital environment and builds on preexisting standards, including the Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) which provides tools for enhanced co-operation and disclosure of electronic evidence, such as direct cooperation with service providers.
The recommendation takes a victim-centred and trauma-informed approach and warns that technology-facilitated violence can lead to anxiety, depression, reputational harm, economic loss and withdrawal from online spaces. It also notes that women in public life are particularly affected, including journalists, politicians, human-rights defenders and women’s rights activists, who are frequently targeted by coordinated online attacks intended to intimidate or silence them.
Read more about the new recommendation on technology-facilitated violence against women and girls
