Digital harassment, violence against women, girls, and gender minorities, and a rollback in reproductive rights—these might seem like a random grab bag of issues impacting our world, but they are in fact deeply connected. To support the United Nations’ UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, Human Rights First’s Associate Director of Democracy Protection Hanah Stiverson considers the links between these three concerning trends, and how collectively they portend a rise in global authoritarianism.
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In the wake of the 2024 presidential election, a grotesque remake of the feminist refrain “My body my choice” circulated online. Users on social media platforms claimed, “your body, my choice” to mean both a celebration of the continued attacks on reproductive freedom, and a not-so-subtle threat of sexual assault. This quickly became a rallying cry for an invigorated far-right after the election of a president who has been accused by dozens of women of sexual assault or misconduct, who has openly bragged about “grabbing women,” and who has been found liable for sexual abuse. The blurring between a rollback in reproductive rights with online harassment and the fantasy of violating women is not happening in a vacuum.
Violence against women, girls, and gender minorities remains one of the most significant and pervasive human rights concerns in our world today. Globally, nearly 1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in their life. The scale of this violence is horrific, with a woman being killed every ten minutes. While femicide and gendered violence more broadly do not stem from a single source, rampant misogyny and male supremacism remain central to these concerns.
Technology-facilitated violence is not new, but it is a growing epidemic, harming women and girls on a global scale. According to the Institute of Development Studies, between 16-58% of women have experienced technology-facilitated gender-based violence. This form of violence impacts women as a whole, but some demographics are disproportionately targeted including women with disabilities, Black and indigenous women and other women of color, migrant women, and LGBTIQ+ people. Likewise, women in certain fields, including education and journalism are often targeted. UNESCO found that 73% of female journalists experienced online violence in the course of their work. The most overt forms of harassment are frequently found in male supremacist online communities, including the so-called ‘Manosphere’ which trafficks in femicidal fantasies.
When Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, ending decades of hard-won reproductive rights, many rightly predicted a rush of similar rollbacks in states across the country. According to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks state-level abortion legislation, there has been an 11% increase in abortion bans from 2020. These laws impact girls and women in compounding ways, including in the increased risk of harm and death, and the ramifications of sexual assault. For example, stories have emerged in abortion-restrictive states of pregnant people forced to wait until their life is at risk to attain a medically necessary abortion. Likewise, 10 of the 21 states with abortion bans or gestational limits do not have an exception for pregnancies resulting from sexual assault. Furthermore, studies have found domestic violence calls about ‘reproductive coercion’ doubled after the overturn of Roe v Wade.
Ultimately, these three interlinked issues are about control. In a society that is facing rising authoritarianism and an increase in public acceptance of authoritarian rule, control of women, girls, and gender minorities remains central to these efforts. These legal strategies and the threat of violence work toward the same goal – to oppress and silence their targets. We must foster legal, legislative, and public strategies to support women, girls, and gender minorities, and create a world that rejects violence and harassment in all facets of society.
