Deepfakes, AI-assisted rape and unwanted advances are pushing women out of public life, a report has found.

Online violence against women in public life is becoming increasingly technologically sophisticated, with perpetrators able to use AI tools to fabricate intimate images of their targets.

Survey responses suggest these attacks are often deliberate and coordinated, aiming to silence women in public life while undermining their professional credibility and personal reputations.

The report, “Tipping point: Online violence impacts, manifestations and redress in the AI age”, was published by UN Women and produced in partnership with City St George’s, University of London, and TheNerve, a digital forensics lab founded by Nobel laureate Maria Ressa.

It analysed the experiences of 641 women journalists and media workers, activists and human rights defenders from 119 countries. The women were surveyed between 27 August and 13 November 2025.

Researchers found that 27 per cent of women respondents were targeted with unsolicited sexual advances via direct message, receiving unwanted intimate images, “cyberflashing”, sexual innuendos or non-consensual sexting.

A further 12 per cent had their personal images, including those of an intimate nature, shared without their consent, while 6 per cent had been subjected to deepfakes or manipulated images and videos.

The impacts included an alarming rate of mental health diagnoses and self-censorship. Nearly one-quarter, or 24 per cent, of respondents had experienced anxiety and/or depression linked to online violence, while 13 per cent reported being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

The findings also pointed to widespread self-censorship, with 41 per cent of respondents saying they self-censored on social media to avoid being abused, and 19 per cent doing so at work.

The study found that while 25 per cent of respondents had reported incidents of online violence to the police and 15 per cent had taken legal action, justice still eluded them. Some 24 per cent of the women who had reported online violence felt victim-blamed by the police, having been asked questions such as “What did you do to provoke the violence?” The same proportion said the police made them feel responsible for shielding themselves from further violence.

Julie Posetti, professor of journalism and chair of the Centre for Journalism and Democracy at City St George’s, is the project’s principal researcher and the report’s lead author.

She said: “AI-assisted ‘virtual rape’ is now at the fingertips of perpetrators. This phenomenon accelerates the harm from online violence inflicted on women in public life.”

“This violence serves to fuel the reversal of women’s hard-won rights in a climate of rising authoritarianism, democratic backsliding and networked misogyny.”

“The rollback of women’s rights is enabled and exacerbated by technologies which, by design, amplify misogynistic hate speech for profit.”

Co-author Lea Hellmueller, associate professor of journalism and associate dean for research and innovation at City St George’s, added: “The chilling effect of online violence is pushing women out of public life.”

“Law enforcement is outsourcing the responsibility for protection to the survivors by telling women to remove themselves from social media, to avoid speaking publicly about controversial issues, to move into less visible roles at work, or to take leave from their respective careers.”

“This shows that avoidance techniques, self-censorship or quitting, are still significantly more likely to be used by women rather than resistance techniques such as reporting online attacks to the police.”

Pauline Renaud, lecturer in journalism at City St George’s and fellow co-author of the study, said: “Going to the police or taking legal action do not necessarily lead to justice for survivors.”

“We need more effective education and training of law enforcement and judicial actors to support action in cases of technology-facilitated violence against women and girls.”

“This needs to be matched by political will to effectively regulate Big Tech companies that use their outsized financial and political power to undermine progress in this area.”

Obesity may be a key driver of rising rates of 11 cancers in adults under 50, a study has found.

The 11 cancers were thyroid, multiple myeloma, liver, kidney, gallbladder, colorectal, pancreatic, endometrial, oral, breast and ovarian cancers.

All except oral cancer are known to be linked to excess weight, with researchers saying raised insulin levels and inflammation may play a part.

The findings come from researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research, London and Imperial College London, who analysed national cancer registry data for England from 2001 to 2019.

In England, around 31,000 cancers were diagnosed in people aged 20 to 49 in 2023, equal to roughly one in every 1,000 people. This compares with 244,000 cases in the 50 to 79 age group, where the rate is around one in 100.

Concerns have been growing in recent years over rising rates of cancers such as bowel and ovarian in younger adults.

Among the younger group, breast cancer was the most common, with 8,500 cases, followed by bowel cancer at 3,000 and melanoma skin cancer with 2,800 diagnoses.

For nine of the 11 cancers identified, rates are rising in younger adults but also increasing in older adults, who are much more likely to develop the disease. Bowel and ovarian cancer were the exceptions, rising only in younger age groups.

The researchers found that bowel cancer rates in younger women linked to BMI rose faster, from 0.9 to 1.6 per 100,000 people, than those not linked to BMI, which rose from 6.4 to 9.6 per 100,000 people. Similar patterns were recorded for men.

However, the authors noted that the overall number of cases of BMI-linked bowel cancer in younger women remained lower than those not linked to BMI, suggesting other factors must be contributing to the increase.

Several suspected contributors, including ultra-processed foods, antibiotic use and air pollution, have been proposed in recent years. However, many of these factors have also shown stable or declining trends in the UK, the team said.

Despite the rise in several cancer rates among younger adults over the past two decades, most established risk factors, including smoking, alcohol consumption, red or processed meat intake, low fibre diets and lack of exercise, remained stable or even declined in the period leading up to diagnosis.

This suggests these traditional risk factors are unlikely to account for much of the increase in cancer cases.

By contrast, overweight and obesity, which have increased steadily since 1995, could be key factors in the rise in cases. The team suggested that between 2001 and 2019, around 20 per cent of the increase in bowel cancer was explained by increases in BMI over that period.

However, the researchers said rises in BMI alone are not enough to explain the overall increase in cancer among younger adults in England and that there are likely to be other causes.

Data also suggest around 15 per cent of bowel cancer in younger people could be linked to being overweight or obese, with around 40 to 50 per cent in total linked to the combined effect of known risk factors such as obesity, lack of exercise, alcohol and smoking.

Montse García-Closas, professor at the ICR, said more research was needed, but “we cannot wait to act”.

She told a media briefing: “Our main conclusion is that although BMI is our best clue, much of the increase still remains unexplained, and we’ve done some additional analysis that show that most likely what’s missing is not just a single cause unexplained, but it’s likely a combination of multiple factors that act together.”

Amy Berrington, professor at the ICR, said: “Although rates have been increasing, cancer in young people is still a rare disease.”

Marc Gunter, professor at Imperial, said obesity was a known risk factor for around 19 different cancers.

He added: “For some of these cancers, including colorectal (bowel) cancer, we think this could be partly caused by higher levels of hormones such as insulin, which is often elevated in people with obesity, as well as inflammation.

“We know people with obesity have higher levels of insulin, and insulin is a growth factor and has been linked to cancer.

“In a recent study, we actually found that insulin in particular might be playing a role in early onset colorectal (bowel) cancer, and this is actually an area of very active research at the moment.”

The researchers called for large, long-term studies to identify all the biological and environmental factors that could explain rising cancer rates in young adults.

García-Closas added: “Tackling obesity across all ages, particularly in children and young people, through stronger public health policies and wider access to effective interventions, could slow the rise in cancer and prevent many cancers and must become a national priority.”

Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Globally, and in the UK, we’re seeing a small increase in cancer rates in adults under 50.

“The picture is complex and we need more research to understand what’s driving the trend, but this study helps to fill in some gaps.

“Overweight and obesity doesn’t explain the rise in full though. Improvements in detection are likely to also be playing a part, meaning that more people are being diagnosed at a younger age.

“Preventing cancer cases must be a priority for the UK government. Smoking remains a leading cause of cancer in adults under 50, which is why the Tobacco and Vapes Bill receiving royal assent this week is such a historic moment.

“Measures to restrict the advertising and promotion of junk food, introducing mandatory reporting and targets on healthy food sales, and making nutritious food more accessible to everyone would all help people keep a healthy weight.”