Violence against women and girls continues to be widespread, affecting women at home, in social contexts, at work, and across all areas of their lives. Violence, in its many forms, physical, sexual, psychological, social or economic, remains a persistent reality for many women, particularly when it intersects with other factors such as ethnicity, race, migration status or economic vulnerability. This is also reflected in human trafficking, which is inherently a gendered crime and a grave human rights violation.
A new joint report by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) confirms that gender-based violence remains widespread across Europe. The findings from the EU gender-based violence survey show that one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence, while women facing intersectional discrimination are at even greater risk.
The report underlines the urgent need for the timely transposition of the EU Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence, of which the deadline in in 2027, as well as for stronger preventive, protective and support measures across Member States. Access to protection and support must not depend on migration status. FRA and EIGE also highlight the serious mental health consequences of gender-based violence and the clear link between economic dependence and exposure to abuse.
The findings further show that most victims still do not report crimes or seek formal support. Only 13.9% contact the police, and only 20.5% reach out to health or support services. We join FRA and EIGE calls for stronger reporting pathways, better data collection, reinforced support systems, and more training for professionals to identify physical, psychological and economic violence. Member States must make efforts to ensure reporting and referral systems are in place and both trusted and trustful. The report also reiterates the need for a consent-based definition of rape and for more holistic, coordinated responses involving healthcare, education and specialist support services. Employers, too, have a role to play in ensuring workplaces are free from sexual violence and harassment, including in digital work environments.
New Technologies Are Expanding the Risks
At the same time, new forms of violence are emerging in digital and AI-driven environments. Perpretrators are also using new technologies and AI to acelarate and improve exploitative recruitment strategies and exploitative control over womens lifes. The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has adopted two new recommendations addressing discrimination and gender-based violence linked to new technologies.
The first, on equality and artificial intelligence, aims to guide European countries in preventing and combating discrimination throughout the lifecycle of AI systems, from design to deployment and retirement. AI can reproduce and intensify existing stereotypes and discriminatory patterns. The recommendation places particular emphasis on transparency, explainability, procedural safeguards and remedies. It highlights several areas in which AI may have especially harmful effects on equality, including gender and sex, racism, and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics.
The second recommendation, on accountability for technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, is the first international legal standard specifically dedicated to this issue. It recognises that online violence often persists in an environment of impunity, shaped by anonymity, fragmented legal frameworks, complex reporting procedures, cross-border obstacles, and difficulties in securing digital evidence. The recommendation calls for victim-centred, trauma-informed and multi-stakeholder responses, involving civil society, victims, the private sector, the media and educational institutions. It also stresses the need for accessible justice systems, protection from secondary victimisation, and a safety-by-design approach to ensure that technology products and services do not facilitate violence.
The recommendation will be officially launched on 10 June 2026 at the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg at an event entitled “From standards to action: making accountability for technology-facilitated violence against women and girls a reality”.
LIBE Pushes for Ban on “Nudifier” Apps
These developments come amid mounting concern over AI-generated sexual abuse imagery. After weeks in which millions of AI-generated sexualised images of women reportedly circulated online, including content linked to the chatbot Grok on X, Members of the European Parliament from the LIBE Committee are now pushing for a ban on so-called “nudifier” systems. These tools use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling an identifiable real person without that person’s consent.
Taken together, these reports and legal developments make one point clear: gender-based violence remains deeply embedded across Europe, and digital technologies are creating new and fast-evolving forms of harm. Effective responses will require not only stronger laws, but also accessible support systems, meaningful accountability, and a firm commitment to prevention, rights and dignity both offline and online.