THE 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence was initiated in 1991. Beginning each year on Nov 25 — International Day of Elimination of Violence against Women — and ending on Dec 10 — International Human Rights Day — the global campaign calls on individuals and groups to take action to end violence against women and girls. This year’s theme — ‘UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls’ — draws attention to one of the fastest-growing forms of abuse. Digital tools are increasingly being used to stalk, harass, and abuse women and girls. These acts often lead to offline violence, such as coercion, physical abuse, and even the killing of women and girls. Survivors feel the effects over a prolonged period. Digital violence targets more women than men, especially those with public or online visibility, including activists, journalists, women in politics and young women. The impact is worse for women facing intersecting forms of discrimination, including religion, race, disability or gender identity.

The UN defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”. Unless specified differently, the term ‘women’ refers to females of all ages, including girls, according to the UN.

International standards and obligations, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women assert the rights of women and girls. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of........

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