Online abuse and deepfakes ‘pushing women out of public life’

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.”