5 December 2025 | New Delhi: Ahead of the IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) India on Thursday convened a high-level, multi-stakeholder consultation “Safeguarding Rights in the Digital Age: Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) in India,” to address the growing challenges of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), calling for urgent safeguards to ensure safe, inclusive and rights-based digital spaces for women and girls.
Jointly organised with the University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health, the consultation brought together the latest research on TFGBV across Asia and India, alongside insights from feminist technologists and digital rights experts. Representatives from Google, Snapchat, Her Circle, SOHUM and The Quantum Hub discussed platform-level innovations, safety-by-design approaches and collaborative strategies to prevent and respond to online gender-based violence. Experts from IT for Change, the Centre for Communication Governance, Breakthrough Trust, Feminism in India and Digital Futures Lab added evidence on the enablers, drivers and solutions emerging from the field. The discussions also underscored how India’s IndiaAI Mission positions the country to lead globally, with recent policy developments—such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules (2025) and the AI Governance Guidelines focused on deepfake detection—signalling important progress toward ensuring technology advances inclusion, innovation and safety.
Ms. Andrea M Wojnar, UNFPA India Representative, underscored that technology-facilitated violence is “not merely a digital issue—it is a human rights crisis.” She highlighted that online harms—ranging from cyberstalking and impersonation to non-consensual image sharing and sophisticated deepfake manipulation—have escalated into a global epidemic, disproportionately affecting women, young people, and gender-diverse communities.
Prof. Cathy Vaughan from the University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health, shared “Technology-facilitated gender-based violence is insidious. The many benefits of the increasing reach of technology in all our lives has been accompanied by very real harm - harm primarily borne by women and girls, and people who already experience different forms of inequality and discrimination. The strength of the tech sector in India means there is a real opportunity here to lead the world in developing innovative approaches to prevention and safety by design. The strength of the women’s movement in India also means there is the opportunity to generate robust evidence about what is needed for a comprehensive response to this growing and serious form of violence against women and girls.”
The Living Lab created space for participants to share real-life safety challenges they face online and to collectively reflect on what tools and features platforms need to introduce or strengthen. Audience members spoke about the need for quicker ways to report abuse, more intuitive safety controls, better protections against impersonation, and clearer pathways to respond when harm happens. They also highlighted gaps in moderation for Indian languages and the difficulty of navigating safety settings across different platforms. These lived experiences shaped the discussion on how platforms, policymakers, and partners can work together to create safer and more responsive digital environments.
The event takes place in the lead-up to the IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026, where India will showcase its commitment to shaping ethical, inclusive and rights-respecting artificial intelligence. UNFPA also reiterated its commitment to supporting India’s efforts through its global programme Making All Spaces Safe and the new TFGBV Programming Framework, which provides evidence-based tools for policymakers, technology platforms, regulators and communities to prevent digital harm and ensure survivor-centred response.
The consultation concluded with a shared commitment to reinforce India’s leadership in building safe, ethical and inclusive digital futures.
For more information, please contact:
Pinky Pradhan, Communications & Media Specialist | ppradhan@unfpa.org | +91 9810788435
About UNFPA
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. UNFPA's mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA calls for the realization of reproductive rights for all and supports access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services, including voluntary family planning, quality maternal health care and comprehensive sexuality education. Visit us at https://india.unfpa.org/en
