GREVIO General
Recommendation No. 1
on the digital dimensionof violence against women
adopted on 20 October 2021

Group of Experts on
Action against Violenceagainst Women andDomestic Violence(GREVIO)GREVIO General
Recommendation No. 1
on the digital dimension ofviolence against women
adopted on 20 October 2021

Group of Experts on
Action against Violenceagainst Women andDomestic Violence(GREVIO)

Council of Europe

French edition:
Recommandation générale n° 1 du GREVIO
sur la dimension numérique dela violence à l’égard des femmes
The opinions expressed in this work are
the responsibility of the authors anddo not necessarily reflect the official
policy of the Council of Europe.
The reproduction of extracts (up to
500 words) is authorised, except forcommercial purposes as long as theintegrity of the text is preserved, theexcerpt is not used out of context, does
not provide incomplete information ordoes not other wise mislead the reader
as to the nature, scope or content of
the text. The source text must always
be acknowledged as follows “© Councilof Europe, year of the publication”.
All other requests concerning the
reproduction/translation of all or partof the document, should be addressedto the Directorate of Communications,Council of Europe (F-67075 Strasbourg
Cedex or publishing@coe.int).
All other correspondence concerning
this document should be addressedto the Directorate General of
Democracy of the Council of Europe.
Cover design and layout: Documents
and Publications Production Department(DPDP), Council of Europe
Cover photo: © Shutterstock© Council of Europe, November 2021
Printed at the Council of Europe

GREVIO(2021)20
Adopted on 20 October 2021
Published on 24 November 2021
Secretariat of the monitoring mechanismof the Council of Europe Convention
on Preventing and Combating Violenceagainst Women and Domestic Violencewww.coe.int/conventionviolenceContents
INTRODUCTIONSCOPE OF THE GENERAL RECOMMENDATION
THE DIGITAL DIMENSION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: CONCEPT AND
TERMINOLOGYOBLIGATIONS ARISING UNDER THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION IN RELATION
TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN ITS DIGITALDIMENSION
Online sexual harassment
Online and technology-facilitated stalking
Digital dimension of psychological violence

RECOMMENDATIONSPrevention
Protection
Prosecution
Co-ordinated policies

ANNEX: GLOSSARY

5
7
13
17
18
19
20

23
23
24
26
27

29

► Page 3

Introduction
1.
GREVIO recognises violence against women committed in the digital sphereas an increasingly prevalent global issue with grave consequences. Mandated under
Article 69 of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violenceagainst Women and Domestic Violence (hereinafter the Istanbul Convention), whichempowers GREVIO to adopt general recommendations on the implementation of
the convention, during its 21st plenary meeting GREVIO decided to prepare its very
first General Recommendation and to dedicate it to the application of the Istanbul
Convention in relation to the digital dimension of violence against women. According
to the Explanatory Report to the Istanbul Convention, general recommendations
shall have a common meaning for all parties and concern articles or themes that areincluded in the convention. And even though these general recommendations are
not legally-binding, they serve as an important reference for parties by developing
a greater understanding of the different themes in the convention and offering
clear guidance that can contribute to an effective implementation of the provisions
contained in the convention. These recommendations shall also be part of future
monitoring rounds.1
2.
The GREVIO Working Group on a General Recommendation of the Digital
Dimension of Violence against Women (GREVIO-GT-DD) was established to oversee
the development of this first General Recommendation by GREVIO.
In carrying out its functions, GREVIO-GT-DD held a series of meetings to3.
determine the prevailing challenges faced by the States Parties in addressing the digitaldimension of violence against women and to formulate related recommendations. The
working group meetings also served as a platform to engage with other internationalorganisations as well as independent experts.

1. Council of Europe (2011a), “Explanatory Report to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing
and combating violence against women and domestic violence”, Council of Europe Treaty SeriesNo. 210, paragraph 359. Available at https://rm.coe.int/16800d383a.

► Page 5

4.
The first draft of the General Recommendation prepared by the GREVIO-GT-DD
was adopted by GREVIO on 15 February 2021 during its 23rd meeting. After the
adoption of this first draft, the working group reached out to a number of Councilof Europe committees and monitoring bodies with a view to gathering their input
and opinions on the draft text. This exchange with the Council of Europe bodies wasfollowed by a public consultation procedure where the working group collected
input on the recommendations from a number of civil society actors, including
European and national NGOs and umbrella organisations, independent experts andresearchers as well as other international organisations such as the members of the
End Discrimination and Violence against Women Platform.
The GREVIO-GT-DD incorporated the input gathered from both the Council
5.
of Europe committees and civil society into the draft General Recommendation.
The final draft of General Recommendation No.1 containing the changes
6.
introduced on the basis of the overall consultation process was adopted by GREVIO
on 20 October 2021.

Page 6 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against womenScope of the General
Recommendation
7.
Violence against women, including domestic violence, is one of the most serious
forms of gender-based violations of human rights and a worldwide phenomenon.
Recognised as a form of discrimination since the early 1990s,2 regional legal instruments
such as the Istanbul Convention have set binding standards for the prevention ofviolence against women, the protection of victims and the prosecution of perpetrators.
With the help of comprehensive definitions of violence against women as a formof gender-based violence, these legal instruments place far-reaching obligations
on their respective States Parties to address and respond to all forms of violenceagainst women, whether they occur in public or in private life. Failure to act entails
the responsibility of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of a State Party.
Hence the Istanbul Convention imposes upon its States Parties the obligation to
exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparation for
acts of violence covered by the scope of the convention that are perpetrated bynon‐state actors.
The Istanbul Convention offers a particularly detailed set of legally binding
8.
standards and is both the most recent and the most far-reaching treaty in this field.
It defines violence against women as a violation of human rights and a form of
discrimination against women and it explains that this term “shall mean all acts ofgender-based violence against women that result in, or are likely to result in, physical,
sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats ofsuch acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public orin private life”. It covers domestic violence understood as “all acts of physical, sexual,
psychological or economic violence that occur within the family or domestic unit
between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the perpetrator sharesor has shared the same residence with the victim” and requires the recognition that
this is predominantly a gendered phenomenon.

2. In 1992, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (the CEDAW Committee)
adopted General Recommendation No. 19 on violence against women, which recognised genderbased violence as a form of discrimination.

► Page 7

9.
GREVIO endorses the view of other independent women’s rights treaty bodies
that gender-based violence against women affects women throughout their life
cycle,3 and that the experience of gender-based violence against women is both acause and a consequence of women’s and girls’ historically rooted inequality withmen and boys. It is violence perpetrated as a result of or in order to perpetuatestereotypes of women and men in society, social norms, concepts of masculinity
and notions of women’s inferiority. Women and girls may experience gender-based
violence against women in all aspects of their lives, including in their families andintimate relationships, by friends and acquaintances, within their communities, placesof work, including remote working as well as work provided on/through platforms,
in education, sport, arts, leisure, in politics, in seeking health care, during and after
migration and in many other settings.
10. For many years now, women’s and girls’ experiences of gender-based violenceagainst women in these and other settings have been amplified or facilitated bytechnology, in particular the technology used in online and digital environments.
Information and communication technology (ICT) has enabled the perpetration ofviolence against women on a scale previously unknown. The onset of the Covid-19
pandemic in 2020 has further amplified this. GREVIO regards the perpetration ofviolence against women online or with the help of technology as a continuity ofthe different forms of such violence that affects and exacerbates women and girls’
experiences of gender-based violence against women to an alarming extent.
11. Whilst both men and women may experience incidents of inter-personal
violence and abuse, women are considerably more likely to experience repeatedand severe forms of abuse, including sexual violence. They are also more likely tohave experienced sustained physical, psychological or emotional abuse, or violence
which results in injury or death, including by an intimate partner.
12. Digital forms of gender-based violence against women can be particularly
pronounced for women and girls at risk of or exposed to intersecting forms of
discrimination, and may be exacerbated by factors such as disability, sexual orientation,
political affiliation, religion, social origin, migration status or celebrity status, among
others.4 Gender-based violence against women perpetrated in the digital sphere hasa serious impact on women’s and girls’ lives, including psychological and physicalhealth, their livelihoods, their physical safety and their reputation.
3. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2017), General Recommendation
No. 35 on gender-based violence against women, updating General Recommendation No. 19,
available at: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/
CEDAW_C_GC_35_8267_E.pdf.
4. CEDAW Committee General Recommendation No. 28 on the core obligation of States Parties under
Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
General Recommendation No. 33 on women’s access to justice and General Recommendation
No. 35 on gender-based violence against women, updating General Recommendation No. 19
confirms that discrimination against women is inextricably linked to other factors that affect theirlives. According to the CEDAW Committee, these factors may include ethnicity/race, indigenous or
minority status, colour, socio-economic status and/or caste, language, religion or belief, politicalopinion, national origin, marital and/or maternal status, age, urban/rural location, health status,
disability, property ownership, being lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, illiteracy, traffickingof women, armed conflict, seeking asylum, being a refugee, internal displacement, statelessness,migration, heading households, widowhood, living with HIV/AIDS, deprivation of liberty, being

Page 8 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women13. In addition, it has severe implications for women’s participatory rights online.
The hateful abuse to which women are subjected in online environments causes
many women to withdraw from participating online, including from expressing theirviews on online platforms. This is particularly problematic for women and girls’ humanrights’ defenders, journalists or those in politics, but also for social media influencers
or others active on social media and/or in public. Violence against women and girls inthe digital sphere thus silences their voices and reduces their perspectives in publicdebate. As such, GREVIO considers it to not only amount to gender-based violenceagainst women but to undermine a number of other human rights of women asprotected by international law.
14. Since 2016, GREVIO has been monitoring the Istanbul Convention’s
implementation by States Parties. Through its baseline evaluation procedure, it
assesses the implementation of the Convention in its entirety and offers suggestions
and proposals for remedial action to take in relation to any identified shortcomings.
Over the course of its work, it has gradually increased its attention to the digitaldimension of women and girls’ experiences of gender-based violence against women.
15. In a number of States Parties evaluated thus far, GREVIO has identified steps
taken to address some aspects of the rise in the different manifestations of violenceagainst women in the online and digital sphere. Efforts have been made, for example,
to raise awareness and prevent image-based abuse or sexualised bullying among
the young generation. Elsewhere, emphasis has been placed on the introductionof new criminal offences to capture specific harm perpetrated online. Research andnational experience have shown that specialist expertise and technological tools
to ensure the collection of evidence are not always available to law-enforcement
officers and others in the criminal justice system, or not to the extent necessary.5
16. Where legislation exists, GREVIO notes that the focus in recognising andsanctioning the abuse and harm done by violence perpetrated online or throughtechnology is often placed on ensuring a person’s safety, reputation or property.
Many domestic laws fail to reflect other important impacts of acts of such violence,
including social, economic, psychological and participatory harms. Very few consider
and specifically address the compound experiences of women and girls and do notin prostitution, geographical remoteness and stigmatisation of women fighting for their rights,
including human rights defenders. Accordingly, since women experience varying and intersecting
forms of discrimination that have an aggravating negative impact, gender-based violence may
affect some women to different degrees, or in different ways, so appropriate legal and policy
responses are needed. GREVIO’s baseline evaluation reports have identified several gaps in the
non-discriminatory implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention (as foreseen
under Article 4 (3)) and have noticed the absence of effective measures addressing the needs ofwomen from vulnerable groups. The evaluation reports highlight that victims of violence against
women who belong to vulnerable groups (women with disabilities, women from national minorities
including the Roma community, LBTI (Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex) women, womenfrom rural areas, migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee women, women without a residence permit,
women with addiction, and women in prostitution) frequently face specific barriers with regard
to the application of the convention and experience intersectional discrimination in their accessto protection and assistance.
5. Council of Europe (2018a), “Mapping study on cyberviolence”, Cybercrime Convention Committee,
Working Group on cyberbullying and other forms of online violence, especially against women andchildren (CBG), available at: https://rm.coe.int/t-cy-mapping-study-on-cyberviolence-final/1680a1307c

Scope of the General Recommendation ► Page 9

place it in the context of a continuum of violence against women that women andgirls are exposed to in all spheres of life, including in the digital sphere.
17. Discourses around information and communication technology, participation,access rights and safety in technology and online are often not informed by a narrativeof gender-based violence against women – despite its high prevalence. Similarly,
national responses to gender-based violence against women rarely include thedigital dimension of such violence. This is particularly pronounced in the context of
responding to domestic violence. This dualism is reflected at the international andEuropean level, with legal frameworks regulating access rights, ICT and safety online
without recognition for women’s exposure to gender-based violence against women.
At the same time, international and European legal norms on women’s rights do not
specifically address the digital dimension of violence against women and domestic
violence, giving rise to the notion of a (non-existent) gap.
18. With this General Recommendation, GREVIO thus seeks to contribute to analignment of the two discourses by clearly positioning manifestations of violenceagainst women and girls in the digital sphere as expressions of gender-based
violence against women covered by the Istanbul Convention. It wishes to offer
current and future States Parties an interpretation of the Istanbul Convention inorder to demonstrate the relevance of this tool in relation to the digital dimensionof violence against women and domestic violence. This Recommendation seeks to
set out definitions of key terms and concepts regarding violence against women anddomestic violence perpetrated in the digital sphere and to provide recommendations
to prevent and combat this phenomenon by proposing specific action to take inrelation to the four pillars (4Ps) of the Istanbul Convention: prevention, protection,prosecution and co-ordinated policies.
19. While the Istanbul Convention offers an important legal framework to preventand combat the digital dimension of violence against women and domestic violence,
it is usefully complemented by other relevant treaties such as the Convention on
Cybercrime of the Council of Europe (Budapest Convention). The Budapest Convention
offers a comprehensive set of legally binding standards to criminalise aspectsof cyberviolence, secure evidence and engage in cross-border and international
co-operation to investigate and also prosecute online violence against women.
Moreover, soft law, such as the non-binding Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 of theCommittee of Ministers to member states on preventing and combating sexism6,
which includes a dedicated section on online sexist hate speech, and the General
Policy Recommendation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance(ECRI) on combating hate speech,7 are of equal relevance.

6. Council of Europe (2019), Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 of the Committee of Ministers
to member States on preventing and combating sexism, available at: https://rm.coe.int/
CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168093b26a.
7. ECRI (2015), ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 15 on Combating Hate Speech, available athttps://rm.coe.int/ecri-general-policy-recommendation-no-15-on-combating-hate-speech/16808b5b01.

Page 10 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women20. Moreover, GREVIO draws attention to the advances made in the interpretationof the European Convention of Human Rights in recognising digital forms of violenceagainst women as a violation of the right to privacy. The case of Buturugă v. Romania8
saw the first explicit recognition of cyberviolence by the European Court of Human
Rights. It concerned allegations of domestic violence and of violations of theconfidentiality of electronic correspondence by the former husband of the applicant
who complained of shortcomings in the system for protecting victims of this typeof violence.
21. Drawing attention to online hate and sexual violence and harassment of womenin public spaces, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) issued
two resolutions on cyberdiscrimination and online hate9 and on ending sexual
violence and harassment of women in public space.10 Similarly, the Council of Europe
Gender Equality Strategy stressed the need to tackle violence against women (bothonline and offline) through combating gender stereotypes and sexism – including
sexist hate speech and violent and sexualised threats online, especially on social
media platforms.11

8. Buturugă v. Romania, No. 56867/15, 11 February 2020.
9. Council of Europe (2017a), Parliamentary Assembly Resolution on ending cyberdiscriminationand online hate, available at: http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.
asp?fileid=23456.
10. Council of Europe (2017b), Parliamentary Assembly Resolution on putting an end to sexual
violence and harassment of women in public space, available at: http://assembly.coe.int/
nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=23977&lang=en.
11. Council of Europe (2018b), Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023, available at:https://rm.coe.int/prems-093618-gbr-gender-equality-strategy-2023-web-a5/16808b47e1.

Scope of the General Recommendation ► Page 11

The digital dimension ofviolence against women:
concept and terminology
22. The digital dimension of violence against women encompasses a wide rangeof acts online or through technology that are part of the continuum of violence thatwomen and girls experience for reasons related to their gender, including in thedomestic sphere, in that it is a legitimate and equally harmful manifestation of thegender-based violence experienced by women and girls offline.
23. GREVIO’s understanding of the concept of violence against women in its
digital dimension encompasses both online aspects (activities performed and data
available on the internet, including internet intermediaries on the surface web aswell as the dark web) and technology-facilitated (activities carried out with the useof technology and communication equipment, including hardware and software)
harmful behaviour perpetrated against women and girls. Internet intermediaries
refer to entities that facilitate interactions on the internet between natural andlegal persons by offering and performing a variety of functions and services12 andinclude internet service providers (ISPs), search engines and social media platforms.
Technological tools which may be misused by abusers to stalk, harass, surveil, andcontrol victims include smartphones, cameras and other recording equipment,
global positioning systems (GPS) or satellite navigators, other internet-connected
devices such as smart watches, fitness trackers and smart home devices as well assoftware such as spyware or other mobile applications that may facilitate violence.
24. The term “digital dimension of violence against women” is employed toemphasise the fact that this harmful behaviour disproportionately targets womenand girls and forms a central element of their experiences of gender-based violenceagainst women. It is violence perpetrated against women and girls that is rooted
in the same context of women’s inequality and men’s sense of entitlement as thepsychological, sexual and physical violence experienced by women and girls in theoffline world.

12. Council of Europe (2018c), Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)2 of the Committee of Ministers tomember States on the roles and responsibilities of internet intermediaries, available at: https://
search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=0900001680790e14.

► Page 13

25. GREVIO also notes that the different forms of violence against women anddomestic violence occurring in the digital sphere and those occurring in the physicalworld are not mutually exclusive and frequently overlap with one another, exacerbating
the traumatising impact of the abuse, at times even threatening the physical safetyof the victim. It is thus essential not to overlook the digital dimension of violence
where physical and sexual abuse is present, especially in cases of intimate-partner
violence. Digital experiences of violence may be an extension of or a precursor tophysical and sexual violence, stalking and harassment. They may also, however,be an expression of gendered and sexualised abuse to punish, silence, devalue orotherwise traumatise a woman or girl, including in the context of intimate-partner
violence. Indeed, technology can be misused by perpetrators to further intensify
the coercive and controlling behaviour, manipulation and surveillance exerted on
their former and current partners, therefore increasing the fear, anxiety and gradualisolation from friends and family experienced by victims. Therefore, ignoring thelarger gender pattern associated with cyberviolence risks missing the social realityof violence against women stemming from the idea of the inferiority of women orfrom stereotyped roles for women and men.
26. As the use of internet-enabled devices, social media and technology proliferates,
violence against women in the online and digital sphere is becoming increasingly
prevalent. A number of surveys and studies reveal the extent of the problem: forexample, according to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights’ survey on violenceagainst women (2014), 14% of women in the EU have experienced stalking in theform of offensive or threatening communications since the age of 15.13 A reportcommissioned by Women’s Aid shows that 45% of domestic violence victims reported
experiencing some form of abuse online during their relationship and 48% reported
experiencing harassment or abuse online from their ex-partner once they had left therelationship. Some 38% reported online stalking once they had left the relationship.14
According to the report “Toxic Twitter” issued by Amnesty International, 25% of
respondents polled across eight countries had received threats, including of sexual
violence, physical pain, incitement to suicide and death towards them and theirfamily on Twitter.15 Lastly, a recent survey conducted by Plan International, an NGO
focusing on violence against girls, found that more than half of the interviewed
14 000 15- to 25-year-old women from 22 different countries said they had been
cyberstalked, sent explicit messages and images, or abused online.16 Even thoughthese numbers provide snapshots of specific aspects of the problem, it is to be notedthat the lack of comprehensive and accurate data collection efforts in this area results
in information being fragmented, highlighting the need for robust data collection

13. Fundamental Rights Agency (2014), “Violence against women: an EU-wide survey. Main
results report”, available at https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/violence-againstwomen-eu-wide-survey-main-results-report.
14. Laxton C. and Women’s Aid (2014), “Virtual World, Real Fear – Women’s Aid report into online abuse,harassment and stalking”, available at https://1q7dqy2unor827bqjls0c4rn-wpengine.netdna-ssl.
com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Women_s_Aid_Virtual_World_Real_Fear_Feb_2014-3.pdf.
15. Amnesty International (2018), “Toxic Twitter, a toxic place for women”, available at www.amnesty.
org/en/latest/research/2018/03/online-violence-against-women-chapter-1.
16. Plan International (2020), “Free to be online? A report on girls’ and young women’s experiences of
online harassment”, available at https://plan-international.org/publications/freetobeonline.

Page 14 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women

of women’s experiences of gender-based violence against women, including online
and through technology. This issue was thrown into stark relief by the onset of theCovid-19 pandemic, indicating that efforts must be stepped up.
27. Violence against women taking place in the digital sphere is a prevalent form of
violence against women and as such it is gaining attention by international monitoring
bodies and intergovernmental organisations. General Recommendation No. 35 on
gender-based violence against women, updating General Recommendation No. 19of the UN CEDAW Committee, the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on violenceagainst women, its causes and consequences analysing online violence against womenand girls, and Council of Europe soft law instruments – including the Committee of
Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 on preventing and combating sexism,
Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)2 on the roles and responsibilities of internet
intermediaries in carrying out their mandate and the Cybercrime Convention
Committee’s (T-CY) Mapping Study on Cyberviolence – all address, in one way or
another, aspects related to the digital dimension of violence against women. Last but
not least, research studies such as the European Institute for Gender Equality’s (EIGE)
study on cyberviolence against women and girls and the study commissioned by
the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional
Affairs on cyberviolence and hate speech online against women offer valuable
information on the issue.
28. To date, there is no universal typology/definition of behaviours or action that is
considered to group together all forms of violence against women perpetrated online
or through technology. Instead, discourses and approaches to abusive behaviour
online and harms perpetrated via technology are marked by terms that are usedinterchangeably or inaccurately, creating a fragmentation that is reinforced by thediversity of aims and perspectives of the different stakeholders that are currently
shaping the narrative. Many terms currently in use do not cover the full range of
behaviour, nor do they highlight the gender pattern in the abuse. While describing
some very relevant forms of violence against women perpetrated in digital spaces,
they do not nearly cover all of the activities carried out online or through technologythat harm women and girls.
29. GREVIO considers that the term “violence against women in its digital dimension”
or “the digital dimension of violence against women” is comprehensive enough tocomprise both online acts of violence and those perpetrated through technology,
including technology yet to be developed. It also allows for the recognition that not allacts of violence against women in the digital sphere are of the same severity, nor dothey all meet the threshold for criminal prosecution within individual states. In view ofthe evolving nature of technology and opportunities for harmful behaviour, the term
“violence against women in its digital dimension” will allow types of behaviour andaction yet to emerge to come within its remit. Adopting such inclusive terminology
will enable the present General Recommendation to address all forms of violenceagainst women perpetrated via digital means.
30. An inclusive approach to the manifestations of violence against women in thedigital sphere – one that includes intimate partner violence perpetrated throughdigital means - is not only important because of their evolving nature but also because
The digital dimension of violence against women: concept and terminology ► Page 15

of the scale of perpetration and the amplitude of consequences that easily multiply
with an evolution in technology and an increase in digitalisation. Experiences ofviolence online are greatly amplified because of the multitude of perpetrators insome cases or the wide reach and near-permanent nature of harmful images andhateful content spread.
31. In order to keep up with the ever-evolving nature of the digital space andviolent acts committed therein, the Annex of the present General Recommendation
provides a glossary containing the definitions of some of the most commonly used
terms in the digital domain as well as the most prevalent forms of digitally perpetrated
violence against women. This glossary will be continuously updated to include the
newly emerging terminology and forms of violent acts perpetrated against womenand girls in the digital sphere.
32. In considering this a distinct but not separate dimension of violence against
women, GREVIO offers an interpretation of the Istanbul Convention that is in linewith the victim-centred approach of its drafters who did not intend to distinguishbetween online and offline experiences of gender-based violence against women.
Illustrating this point, the Explanatory Report to the Istanbul Convention refers tostalking committed in the digital sphere as just another form of stalking.

Page 16 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against womenObligations arising underthe Istanbul Convention
in relation to violenceagainst women anddomestic violence inits digital dimension
33. The digital dimension of violence against women encompasses a wide rangeof behaviour that falls under the definition of violence against women set out in
Article 3a of the Istanbul Convention. This definition comprises “all acts of genderbased violence against women that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual,
psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of suchacts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in
private life”. Non-consensual image or video sharing, coercion and threats, including
rape threats, sexualised bullying and other forms of intimidation, online sexual
harassment, impersonation, online stalking or stalking via the Internet of Things
as well as psychological abuse and economic harm perpetrated via digital means
against women and girls all come under the above definition.
34. Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Istanbul Convention requires States Parties totake the necessary legislative and other measures to exercise due diligence toprevent, investigate, punish and provide reparation for acts of violence coveredby the scope of this convention that are perpetrated by non-state actors. This wellestablished concept of due diligence adopted by international and regional humanrights instruments, policy documents and jurisprudence is framed as an obligationof means, not of results, and requires States Parties to set up the necessary legal
and policy framework to allow for the prevention of all forms of violence against
women and their effective investigation in order to hold perpetrators accountable for
their action and to compensate victims. It is a provision of the Istanbul Convention
that is central to ending impunity for gender-based violence against women andto ensuring access to justice for women and girl victims of such violence. GREVIO
considers this obligation to cover all expressions of violence against women, including
digital expressions and violence perpetrated with the help of or through technology.
Current experiences of women and girls of such violence show that too little is done
to hold perpetrators to account. As noted by the Council of Europe Commissioner► Page 17for Human Rights, the lack of awareness about this issue causes cyberattacks andviolence against women to not be taken as seriously as offline violence by national
authorities.17 Moreover, law-enforcement agencies and judicial authorities often
lack the necessary technical training to be able to investigate and prosecute such
incidents of violence effectively.
35. GREVIO recalls that one of the premises of the Istanbul Convention is to ensure
a holistic response to all forms of violence against women and domestic violenceby offering a state-wide effective, comprehensive and co-ordinated set of policies
that encompasses a multitude of measures and involves a variety of actors, agencies
and stakeholders (Article 7). Such a holistic response would require measures of
prevention, protection and prosecution. In responding to the digital dimensionof violence against women, the need for comprehensive policies that include andspecifically address these forms of violence in the area of prevention, support andprotection of victims and prosecution is of particular importance, because of thecomplex and multidimensional nature of the problem. Like offline violence, it isdeeply rooted in power dynamics, economic imbalances and patriarchal attitudes
that foster the idea of women’s inferiority to men. These damaging beliefs andattitudes are deeply embedded in the fabric of societies and thus require a largescale societal change. From the above, it clearly emerges that States Parties to the
Istanbul Convention have an obligation to address the digital dimension of violenceagainst women as an integral part of their comprehensive approach to preventing
such violence, protecting and supporting victims and to prosecuting perpetrators.
36. In addition, many of the forms of violence against women perpetrated throughdigital means come within the remit of intentional behaviour, which States Parties tothe Istanbul Convention are required to criminalise. These are online psychologicalviolence (Article 33), online or stalking committed in the digital sphere (Article 34)
and sexual harassment online or through digital means (Article 40).

Online sexual harassment
37. According to Article 40 of the Istanbul Convention, sexual harassment constitutes“any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature
with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular whencreating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment”.
38. This General Recommendation considers the following behaviour online or
through digital means to come under this definition: 1) non-consensual image
or video sharing; 2) non-consensual taking, producing or procuring of intimate
images or videos; 3) exploitation, coercion and threats 4) sexualised bullying: and5) cyberflashing.
(a) non-consensual sharing of nude or sexual images (photos or videos) of a person or threats thereof include acts of image-based sexual abuse (also known
as “revenge pornography”);
17. Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (2020),“Stop cyberviolence against women and girls”,
available at www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/stop-cyberviolence-against-women-and-girls.

Page 18 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women

(b) non-consensual taking, producing or procuring of intimate images or videos
include acts of “upskirting” and taking “creepshots” as well as producing digitally
altered imagery in which a person’s face or body is superimposed or “stitched
into” a pornographic photo or video, known as “fake pornography” (such as“deepfakes”, when synthetic images are created using artificial intelligence);(c) exploitation, coercion and threats coming within the remit of Article 40 of theConvention include forms of violence such as forced sexting, sexual extortion,rape threats, sexualised/gendered doxing, impersonation and outing;(d) sexualised bullying constitutes behaviours such as circulating gossip or rumours
about a victim’s alleged sexual behaviour, posting sexualised comments underthe victim’s posts or photos, impersonating a victim and sharing sexual content
or sexually harassing others, thus impacting their reputation and/or livelihood,or “outing” someone without their consent with the purpose of scaring, threatening and body shaming; and(e) cyberflashing consists of sending unsolicited sexual images via dating or messaging applications, texts, or using Airdrop or Bluetooth technologies.
39. Some of the above behaviours are commonly known as sexist hate speech. As
recognised by the Council of Europe Recommendation on preventing and combating
sexism, these acts are often humiliating and contribute to a social climate where
women are demeaned, their self-regard lowered and their activities and choices
restricted, including at work, in the private, public or online sphere. Sexist behaviour
such as sexist hate speech, which often constitutes a first step in the process towards
physical violence, may also escalate to or incite overtly offensive and threatening
acts, including sexual abuse or violence or rape, thus falling within the remit of Article
40 of the Istanbul Convention.

Online and technology-facilitated stalking
40. Article 34 of the Istanbul Convention defines stalking as “intentional conductof repeatedly engaging in threatening conduct directed at another person, causing
her or him to fear for her or his safety”. The Explanatory Report further clarifies thisdefinition and acknowledges that stalking committed via the use of ICT is covered
by Article 34:
The threatening behaviour may consist of repeatedly following another person, engaging in unwanted communication with another person or letting
another person know that he or she is being observed. This includes physicallygoing after the victim, appearing at her or his place of work, sports or education facilities, as well as following the victim in the virtual world (chat rooms,
social networking sites, etc.). Engaging in unwanted communication entails
the pursuit of any active contact with the victim through any available meansof communication, including modern communication tools and ICT devices.
41. Stalking practices committed in the digital sphere include threats (of a sexual,
economic, physical or psychological nature), damage to reputation, monitoring
and gathering of private information on the victim, identity theft, solicitation for
Obligations arising under the Istanbul Convention ► Page 19

sex, impersonating the victim and harassing with accomplices to isolate the victim.
It usually involves the tactic of surveilling or spying on the victim, on their various
social media or messaging platforms, their e-mails and phone, stealing passwords orcracking or hacking their devices to access their private spaces, via the installation of
spyware or geo-localisation apps, or via stealing their devices. Perpetrators can also
take on the identity of the other person or monitor the victim via technology devices
connected through the Internet of Things (IoT), such as smart home appliances.

Digital dimension of psychological violence
42. In Article 33, the Istanbul Convention describes psychological violence as “theintentional conduct of seriously impairing a person’s psychological integrity throughcoercion or threats”. The Explanatory Report of the Convention further elucidates:
The extent of the offence is limited to intentional conduct which seriously
impairs and damages a person’s psychological integrity which can be done byvarious means and methods. The Convention does not define what is meantby serious impairment. Use must be made of coercion or threats for behaviour
to come under this provision. ... This provision refers to a course of conduct
rather than a single event. It is intended to capture the criminal nature of an
abusive pattern of behaviour occurring over time – within or outside the family.
43. All forms of violence against women perpetrated in the digital sphere have a
psychological impact and could be categorised as psychological violence exerted
online and with the use of technology. The specific features of such violenceagainst women increase the impact of the violence on victims. In addition, formsof psychological violence exerted in the context of domestic violence take radical
forms when coupled with new technologies. For example, with the aid of the digitaldomain this can take a new dimension where current or former partners are inpossession of victim’s intimate images. Abusers can similarly misuse technology to
track the whereabouts of their victims. Such forms of violence have a devastating
mental and physical toll on women and girls.
44. Moreover, individual acts of violence that are not criminalised may reach thethreshold of psychological violence when combined with the mob mentality andrepetition facilitated by the internet: a teasing comment may ascend to cyberbullying
when made repetitively or by a large number of people. Certain groups of women,
including politicians, journalists and human rights defenders and activists are
particularly exposed to such violent acts.
45. Similarities exist between experiences of cyberbullying and sexist hate speech,
which, in addition to the consequences listed under paragraph 32, may also cause
loss of resources, self-harm or suicide and amount to psychological violence. Suchacts can target every woman, in particular women who have reported incidents ofgender-based violence, women who succeed in male-dominated domains (suchas athletes and video game designers), women challenging traditional genderstereotypes or women with intersectional identities who may be more exposed
to violence because of their sex, gender, race, colour, language, religion, politicalor other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority,
Page 20 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against womenproperty, birth, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, state of health, disability,
marital status, migrant or refugee status, or other status. Young women aged from
18-29 years also constitute a group more at risk of violence as they are more activeon the internet, including on social media.
46. Online psychological violence can also take the form of intimidation, threatening
the victims or their family, insults, shaming and defamation. Incitement to suicide
or self-harm is also a specific behaviour occurring online, often amplified by themechanisms of mob mentality and anonymity.
47. Another form of psychological violence is economic abuse, which is definedas controlling a woman’s ability to acquire, use and maintain economic resources.
Economic abuse usually occurs within the context of intimate-partner violence
and, among its negative impacts on the physical health of victims such as risk ofpoverty and reduced access to health care, it also threatens the victim’s financial
well-being and independence and consequently affects their psychological integrityin a serious manner.
48. In digital forums, economic abuse can manifest itself as controlling the bankaccounts and financial activities of the victim through internet banking, damaging
the victim’s credit rating by using credit cards without permission or filing all financial
contracts (leases, loans, utilities, etc.) in the name of the victim and failing to makepayments on time or at all (in particular alimony payments).

Obligations arising under the Istanbul Convention ► Page 21

Recommendations
49. On the basis of the above, GREVIO draws attention to the need to acknowledge
violence against women in its digital dimension as a continuum of violence against
women offline, which forms part of gender-based violence against women. It calls on
States Parties to recognise the gendered nature of violence and abuse perpetrated
online and through technology and that it requires a holistic response. With a viewto ensuring the implementation of such a holistic response, GREVIO recommends
that States Parties take the measures outlined below in the areas of prevention,
protection, prosecution and co-ordinated policies.

Prevention
50. The Istanbul Convention requires States Parties to take sustained measures that
aim to prevent violence against women by addressing its root causes and working tochange attitudes, gender roles and stereotypes that make violence against women
acceptable. States should recognise the digital dimension of violence against womenas a form of gender-based violence against women by taking the necessary legislativeand other measures to promote and protect the right for everyone, particularly women,
to live free from violence in both the public and the private sphere in accordancewith Article 4 of the Istanbul Convention.
51. GREVIO recommends that States Parties implement the following preventive
measures:(a) Consider reviewing any relevant legislation in place and adopt new legislation
where needed to prevent, provide protection from and prosecute the digitaldimension of violence against women against the standards of the Istanbul
Convention and other relevant standards, including the Budapest Convention;(b) Undertake initiatives aiming to eradicate gender stereotypes, sexist attitudes
and discrimination against women that play out online as much as offline, taking
into account the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation
CM/Rec(2019)1 on preventing and combating sexism;(c) Foster gender equality in society and support the empowerment and representation of women online by enhancing digital literacy and participation of
all women and girls;(d) Encourage all members of society, especially men and boys, to abandon
harmful stereotypes of women and men and to adopt respectful and healthy
behaviours in the digital sphere;(e) Implement awareness-raising campaigns targeting women and men, girls andboys at different levels of society on different forms of violence against women
perpetrated in the digital sphere as well as on the support services available tovictims . The State Parties should support the efforts of women’s organisations
towards this end and recognise and make use of their expertise;► Page 23

(f ) Provide mandatory and continuous capacity building, education and training
for all relevant professionals, including but not limited to law-enforcement
professionals, criminal justice actors, members of the judiciary, health-care
professionals, asylum officials, social service professionals and education professionals, to equip them with knowledge on digital expressions of violenceagainst women, responding to women and girls as victims without causing
secondary victimisation and re-traumatisation, and, where relevant, information on existing legal frameworks and international co-operation mechanisms
relating to the digital dimension of violence against women as well as on thegathering and securing of electronic evidence;(g) Promote the inclusion of digital literacy and online safety in formal curricula andat all levels of education. Teaching materials made available in line with Article
14 of the Istanbul Convention should enable learners to learn about equality
between women and men, non-stereotyped gender roles, mutual respect,non-violent conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships and violenceagainst women, including in its digital dimension and should be accessible topersons with physical and/or intellectual disabilities;(h) Incorporate digital manifestations of violence against women in any existing
intervention programmes for perpetrators of violence, in particular in thecontext of intimate-partner violence;(i) Encourage the ICT sector and internet intermediaries, including social media
platforms, to make an active effort to avoid gender bias in the design of smart
products, mobile phone applications and video games, as well as the development of artificial intelligence and - respectively - to create internal monitoringmechanisms towards ensuring the inclusion of victim-centric perspectives aswell as to advocate stronger awareness of the perspective and experiences offemale users, in particular those exposed to or at risk of intersecting forms of
discrimination. Internet intermediaries as well as technology companies should
be incentivised to co-operate with NGOs working on violence against womenin their awareness-raising and other efforts; and(j) Encourage media organisations and journalists’ unions to take concrete steps toeradicate gender-based discrimination, victim-blaming attitudes and violationsof the privacy of victims of gender-based violence against women and theirchildren in all their journalistic activities. Further efforts should be undertaken
to uproot male-dominated power dynamics in media landscapes.

Protection
52. The Istanbul Convention requires States Parties to protect women and girls
who are known to be at risk and to set up specialist support services for victims andtheir children, including shelters, round-the-clock telephone helplines and rape crisisor sexual violence referral centres. The permanence and outreach of online content
necessitate the implementation of continuous protective measures to effectively
address the digital dimension of violence against women.
Page 24 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women53. GREVIO recommends that States Parties implement the following protective
measures:(a) ensure that the legal framework relating to violence against women refers andapplies to all forms of violence committed in the digital sphere, respects thedue diligence principle as set out in Article 5 Istanbul Convention and facilitatesformal and informal dialogue between the agencies responsible for responding to the victims. The response should be gender-sensitive and integrate thespecificities of the digital dimension of violence against women;(b) develop and disseminate accessible information on the legal avenues and support services available to victims of violence against women perpetrated in thedigital sphere and create online and offline complaints mechanisms within law
enforcement and prosecution services that are easily and immediately accessible
to victims, including those with physical as well as intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, that comply with international and national data protection
regulations, in line with the Council of Europe’s Modernised Convention for
the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal
Data (CETS No. 223);(c) make support services, including legal and psychological counselling accessible
to all victims of violence against women perpetrated in the digital sphere, including such violence perpetrated in the context of domestic violence, by equipping
existing women’s specialist support services and other services with experiencein this sector with the financial and human resources to offer holistic services,
including legal and technical advice on the removal of harmful online content;(d) enable, through training, capacity building and sufficient resources, generaland specialist support services for women victims of violence, including shelters and non-residential counselling services, temporary economic support
aimed at their short-term self-sufficiency and autonomy as well as social andhealth-care services, to be aware of and respond to women and girls’ experiences of digital violence;(e) equip the national telephone helplines established in accordance with Article 24of the Istanbul Convention with the necessary resources and expertise torespond to the digital dimension of violence against women and ensure theiraccessibility for all victims, regardless of the factors that might expose themto multiple forms of discrimination;(f ) empower equality bodies and ombuds institutions of States Parties which havea mandate to work on gender equality and non-discrimination to address thedigital dimension of violence against women from the point of view of thestructural discrimination and barrier to the realisation of women’s human rights
which it may represent; and(g) incentivise internet intermediaries including ISPs, search engines and social
media platforms to ensure robust moderation of content that falls withing thescope of the Istanbul Convention through removal of account or content, in
multiple languages on the basis of transparent principles that protect the humanrights of all, including women’s right to live free from violence and to provide
easily accessible user guidance to flag abusive content and request its removal.
Recommendations ► Page 25

Prosecution
54. The Istanbul Convention requires States Parties to ensure the effective
investigation and prosecution of offences established in accordance with theconvention.
55. GREVIO recommends that States Parties implement the following measures withregard to prosecution and punishment for gender-based violence against women.
(a) equip law enforcement and other criminal justice actors with the necessary
human, financial and technical resources to effectively investigate and prosecute the digital dimension of violence against women in line with their due
diligence obligations under Article 5 of the Istanbul Convention. This may
include creating specialist units/expertise and facilitating the co-ordinationand co-operation of such units/experts with existing cybercrime units/experts;(b) increase capacity-building efforts for criminal justice and law-enforcement
professionals to equip them with the necessary expertise and resources on how
to use existing legal frameworks to address the digital dimension of violenceagainst women, as well as to develop their forensic capabilities on the gatheringand securing of electronic evidence without causing secondary victimisation
and re-traumatisation of the victim. International co-operation and mutual legal
assistance capacities of criminal justice actors in matters related to the digitaldimension of violence against women should also be enhanced with a viewto ensuring simplified access to evidence held by service providers, including
subscriber information to identify the owner of an account or of an IP addressused in the commission of an offence;(c) ensure the publication of incidence reports by the criminal justice sector on
violence against women perpetrated in the digital sphere and additional information on arrests, indictments, convictions and sentences as well as information
on sex, age, type of violence as well as the relationship of the perpetrator to
the victim, geographical location and other factors deemed relevant by States
Parties with a view to strengthening the confidence of victims in the criminal
justice system, provided that the publication of such information does notcompromise the presumption of innocence;(d) ensure that victims of violence against women perpetrated in the digital
sphere have effective access to criminal justice systems and that the authorities
adequately respond to such cases, including by applying criminal law and, as
appropriate, ex officio prosecution;(e) ensure that emergency barring orders and protection orders are responsive toforms of domestic violence perpetrated online or via ICT and to other digitalmanifestations of violence against women; and(f ) take measures to put an end to impunity for digital acts of violence against
women by encouraging the responsibility of all relevant actors, including ICT
companies and internet intermediaries, in particular through robust content
moderation and removal; and by encouraging media companies to work collaboratively with law-enforcement agencies.
Page 26 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against womenCo-ordinated policies
56. The Istanbul Convention requires States Parties to design and implement
comprehensive and co-ordinated policies at all levels of government and by all
relevant agencies and institutions, involving government agencies, NGOs, national,
regional and local parliaments and authorities.
57. GREVIO recommends that States Parties implement the following measureswith regard to co-ordinated policies:(a) implement the guidelines set out in Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation
CM/Rec(2018)2 on the roles and responsibilities of internet intermediaries
when devising and implementing legislative frameworks relating to internet
intermediaries, in line with their obligations under the Istanbul Convention;(b) ensure recognition of the digital dimension of violence against women innational strategies, programmes and action plans on violence against womenas part of a holistic response to all forms of violence as required by Article 7 of
the Istanbul Convention, which should also encompass consideration for thedigital dimension of violence against women in any strategies, policies andmeasures on digitalisation;(c) allocate appropriate human and financial resources to national and local
governance bodies, as well as to legal aid, healthcare and social protection
institutions, including women’s organisations, to effectively prevent, protectfrom and prosecute violence against women perpetrated online and throughtechnology. The resources should be sufficient to enable these bodies andinstitutions to call in IT experts, obtain technical equipment and build digital
infrastructure as necessary;(d) establish a system to systematically collect and analyse disaggregated dataon violence against women with a digital component, including complaint,
incidence and conviction rates, as well as data on the civil justice measures
imposed, such as restraining orders. All data should be gathered and analysedthrough an intersectional lens and disaggregated by the type of violence, age
and relationship between perpetrator and victim(s), potential aggravating
circumstances (the number of perpetrators, length of abuse, permanence of
data, existence of overlapping forms of violence, involvement of or impact on
the victim’s children, etc.) and other relevant factors;(e) ensure that data on suicides or suicide attempts and on gender-based killingsof women and their children include information on the history of harassment,
including at the workplace, stalking or psychological violence perpetrated in
the digital sphere;(f ) undertake or support surveys, research programmes and studies on thedigital dimension of violence against women in order to, among other things,
measure the financial, personal and social impacts of such violence, including
self-censorship and digital exclusion;(g) encourage private and ICT sector to participate in devising, and implementing policies and setting guidelines and self-regulatory standards in line with
Recommendations ► Page 27

relevant human rights provisions to prevent and combat violence against
women taking place in the digital sphere;(h) involve the ICT sector and internet intermediaries in efforts to hold perpetratorsof violence against women in the digital sphere accountable on the basis of theirinternal rules and by upholding criminal and other legislation, in particular by:i. offering easily accessible effective complaint mechanisms for users to report
harmful content, which are capable of responding to such requests in atimely manner and by taking into account factors that expose women andgirls disproportionately to online abuse, notably sex, gender, race, colour,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth, sexual orientation, gender
identity, age, state of health, disability, marital status, migrant or refugee
status, or other status;
ii. incentivising commercial online activities that incorporate a human rights
perspective at all stages of their activity, including in product design, witha view to reducing risks for women and girls, such as those that track andspy ;iii. encouraging service providers to make legal information and information
about requesting the removal of non-consensual content, including images
or videos, available on their platforms in languages relevant and appropriate
to the user base;(i) prevent commercial entities from making profit out of sexual abuse of womenand girls constituting sexual violence, such as filmed rape, including by criminalising the production and distribution of such content in line with the Council ofEurope Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on
self-regulation concerning cybercontent18 and taking into account Resolutionof the Parliamentary Assembly on violent and extreme pornography;19 and(j) provide resources and an enabling environment for the creation of effective
public-private partnerships involving the private and ICT sector, NGOs andcivil society actors (particularly women’s organisations and specialist service
providers) , equality bodies, ombuds and national human rights institutions
as well as the relevant authorities in order to improve responses to violenceagainst women in its digital dimension by pooling the expertise and capacityof all stakeholders.

18. Council of Europe (2001), Recommendation CM/Rec(2001)8 of the Committee of Ministers tomember States on self-regulation concerning cybercontent (self-regulation and user protection
against illegal or harmful content on new communications and information services).
19. Council of Europe (2011c), Parliamentary Assembly Resolution on violent and extreme pornography,
available at: http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-EN.asp?fileid=13173.

Page 28 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against womenAnnex: Glossary
This glossary contains the definitions of some of the most commonly used terms
in the digital domain as well as the most prevalent forms of digitally perpetrated
violence against women and does not necessarily reflect the views of GREVIO. This
glossary will be continuously updated to include the newly emerging terminology
and forms of violent acts perpetrated against women and girls in the digital sphere.
Airdrop
Airdrop is a service developed by Apple that allows users to exchange content withanother user of an Apple product located nearby.
Algorithm
An algorithm is a suite or sequence of instructions used to perform an automatedtask in a computer system or to find a solution to a problem.
Body shaming
Body shaming consists of commenting on and mocking someone’s bodily shape,size or appearance.
Cloud (the)The cloud refers to an alternative way of storing computer data, where the digital
data is not stored on the user’s physical storage drive but stored on external servers, sometimes in multiple locations, owned and managed by a hosting company.
Creepshots
Creepshots are sexually suggestive pictures of women taken without their consent.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using digital tools and settings, typicallyunderstood as affecting minors.
Cyberflashing
Cyberflashing consists of sending unsolicited sexual images using dating apps,
message apps or texts, or using Airdrop or Bluetooth.
DDoS attack (Distributed denial of service)
A DDoS attack is an attempt to overwhelm and disrupt or disable a service or server
by flooding it with more internet traffic than it can accommodate.
Deadnaming
Deadnaming is the intentional act of using a trans person’s birth name (not corresponding to their gender) in order to shame, threaten, scare or abuse.
► Page 29

Deepfakes
Deepfakes are videos in which one face has been (seamlessly) replaced by anotherface, using algorithms and deep learning, and sound is manipulated, so as to create
the illusion that another person’s actions are being staged.
DoxingDoxing is the act of sharing online a target’s personal information (phone number,e-mail address, home address, professional contacts) without consent, to encourage abuse.
Electronic evidenceElectronic evidence is evidence derived from data contained in or produced by any
digital or technological device.
Flaming
Flaming is the act of posting offensive or hostile messages, including insults, onsocial networks or forums.
Silencing
Silencing in the digital sphere refers to one’s inability to fully participate and express
themselves online out of fear of violence and abuse, ultimately resulting in their
exclusion from public debates they would like to be part of.
Geolocation
Geolocation is a feature on a device that is able to deduce its geographical position
through GPS signals or other forms of connectivity.
Hacking
Hacking is the process of illegally or non-consensually gaining access to a computer
system or a network.
“Happy slapping” (filmed assault)“Happy slapping”/filmed assault is the act of attacking (physical attack or sexualassault) a victim with the objective of recording the assault and sharing it online.
Image-based sexual abuse
Image-based sexual abuse consists of a perpetrator obtaining sexually explicit images
or videos in the course of a relationship, or hacking or stealing them from the victim’s
computer, social media accounts or phone, to share them online.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The IoT is the network of physical objects that are connected together and with theinternet, therefore recording and transmitting data about their use.
Page 30 ► GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against womenIP address (Internet Protocol address)
An IP address is a unique number assigned to a device connected to the internetthat allows the identification and location of that device.
Orbiting
Orbiting consists of not responding to someone’s messages or directly communicatingwith them but continuing to watch their content online (liking, watching stories, etc.).
OutingOuting is the practice of revealing someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity
without their consent, often publicly.
Sexting
Sexting consists of exchanging, sending or receiving sexually explicit messages,
often containing pictures or videos, via text or chat.
Sexual extortion
Sexual extortion, also called “sextortion”, is the act of using the threat of publishingsexual content (images, videos, deepfakes, sexual rumours) to menace, coerce or
blackmail someone, either for more sexual content or for money, sometimes both.
Spyware/Stalkerware
Spyware is software, usually in the form of an app, downloaded onto someone’s
phone or device and used to track the activities of that device. Spyware is consideredstalkerware in the context of domestic violence.
Swatting
Swatting is the use of telephones and often computer systems to deceive an emergency service in order to send law enforcement to a specific location based on afalse report.
Trolling
Trolling is deliberately posting abusive comments online, sometimes with the express
intention of causing alarm, distress or humiliation. The attacks can also be carriedout by a group of people in a co-ordinated and targeted manner.

Annex: Glossary ► Page 31

PREMS 128621

GREVIO, the Group of Experts on Action against
Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, isa human rights monitoring body of the Council ofEurope, composed of independent experts. It is
mandated to monitor the implementation of theCouncil of Europe Convention on Preventing andCombating Violence against Women and Domestic
Violence (Istanbul Convention) by the Parties
and may adopt general recommendations
on the implementation of this convention.

www.coe.int/conventionviolencewww.coe.int

The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading
human rights organisation. It comprises 47 member
states, including all members of the European
Union. All Council of Europe member states havesigned up to the European Convention on Human
Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights,
democracy and the rule of law. The European Courtof Human Rights oversees the implementationof the Convention in the member states.

ENG