New EVAW x Refuge report reveals shocking scale of online misogyny and abuse

The End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) and Refuge have today (24th September 2026) published a joint research report illuminating the shocking scale, nature and impact of online violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Drawing on nationally representative polling of 2,000 women aged 16 and over in the UK, Dangerous by Design’ shines a light on the extent to which harassment, abuse and exposure to misogynistic content, is now widespread and deeply embedded in women’s online experiences.

• 1 in 3 (36%) of UK women reported experiencing some form of online VAWG, rising to nearly half (47%) of women aged 16-24
• One quarter (25%) of women reported experiencing online misogyny or sexual violence
• 1 in 5 (21%) reported experiencing stalking, monitoring, harassment or coercive control
• Almost 1 in 5 (18%) reported experiencing image-based sexual abuse
• More than half (57%) of LGBTQIA+ women reported experiencing online misogyny and sexual violence, including 18% who reported receiving threats of physical or sexual violence

Online spaces have become central to our modern lives, but they have also facilitated new forms of VAWG, as well as allowing existing harms, including misogyny, sexual violence and domestic abuse, to be perpetrated at a much greater scale and speed.

As many as one in three women reported experiencing online VAWG, rising to 47% women aged 16-24. Those in this age group reported higher levels of harm across every category measured, with 38% reporting experiences of misogyny and sexual violence online, 30% reporting experiences of coercive control and stalking, and 31% reporting image-based sexual abuse. Moreover, one in five (21%)16-24-year-olds who use social media said they are recommended content that is humiliating, degrading or sexually violent towards women most or every time they use it.

The report also highlights how online VAWG can be compounded by other forms of discrimination and inequality. The research suggests that LGBTQIA+ women (57%) and disabled women (34%) are disproportionately affected by online misogyny and sexual violence. Both groups also reported experiencing higher levels of harms suggestive of coercive control, stalking, monitoring and harassment (46% and 29% respectively), as well as image-based sexual abuse (42% and 24%).

Of the women who reported experiencing online VAWG, one in five (20%) said it was perpetrated by a former partner, rising to 25% among 16-24 year-olds. These finding expose how online VAWG can form part of post-separation abuse, with perpetrators using digital spaces to harass, abuse and exert control even after a relationship ends.

The safety of AI technologies emerged as another serious concern. Almost half (44%) of the women surveyed use an AI chat system on a regular basis, rising to 80% of women aged 16-24. Yet alarmingly, one in six women in this age group say they have received dating, sex and relationships advice from an AI technology that they perceive to be inappropriate, unhealthy or unsafe. Reflecting these concerns, two thirds (66%) of the women surveyed were concerned about the role of AI technologies in enabling VAWG, whilst the same again (66%) are not confident that the Government is doing enough to regulate AI in the context of women’s safety.

Urgent call to action

In response to the findings, Refuge and EVAW are calling for urgent action. If the government is serious about its commitment to halve VAWG, it must go much further in tackling online abuse. This includes making Ofcom’s guidance on VAWG legally enforceable, introducing mandatory Safety by Design standards for online services, and establishing robust AI regulation that prioritises the safety of women and girls.

Survivors must be given the access to justice that they deserve through enhanced tech abuse training for police and prosecutors and the introduction of a new online safety commission or ombuds role that provides support, information and advocacy options – all backed up by ringfenced funding for the specialist services that provide vital support to survivors of online VAWG, every single day.

A safer online world for women and girls is not optional, it is essential.

Read the full report, including survivor stories and more of our recommendations, here: Dangerous by Design: evidence for action on online violence against women and girls and the path to safer online spaces, here.

Janaya Walker, Interim Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said:

“All women and girls deserve to live free from violence and abuse. This report is a stark reminder of the ways in which online VAWG is a major feature of women’s everyday lives to devastating effect, particularly for young women. The status quo is untenable and the government’s efforts to prevent VAWG needs to confront the business model of big tech, with a regulatory system which has the teeth to hold them to account. A world in which such violence and abuse is routine carries wider consequences for society at large – for our relationships and gender equality, our sense of safety, and democracy. We urge the government to take this opportunity to reflect and change course.”

Gemma Sherrington, CEO of Refuge, said:

“This report comes almost one year after Ofcom introduced its guidance for tech companies on how to tackle VAWG on online platforms. Despite being a welcome step forward, Refuge has long-been clear that voluntary guidance lacks the force needed to address the shocking levels of abuse and violence faced by women and girls online every day. Our report testifies to this, shining a light on the sheer scale of harm that women in this country are experiencing and the lack of confidence they have in tech companies, the criminal justice system, and policymakers to protect them.

These findings are reflective of a system that has continued to prioritise profits over safety, leaving women to pay the price. This cannot continue. The government and Ofcom must go much further in holding tech companies legally responsible for combatting the normalisation of misogyny, holding perpetrators to account, and keeping all women and survivors safe.”

Jane’s story

Jane* was informed by a friend that intimate photos of her were on an anonymous image-based board website, where users trade sexual and explicit images of women and girls without their consent, leaving derogatory comments. She is one of a group of women from the same area in the UK whose photos and videos were shared on the online image board. The images appear to have been obtained when some of the women’s personal Facebook and Snapchat accounts were hacked in 2022. At the time, some of the women were aged under 18.

Since then, Jane and some of the other women have been approached on social media by men who they understand have seen the videos and photographs online. When Jane and the other survivors initially went to the police, they were of little help and even warned her off researching where her personal pictures may have been shared because they said that would put her at risk of breaking the law. Represented by law firm Leigh Day, Jane urged the regulator Ofcom to open a formal investigation into these platforms and to consider using its powers of investigation and enforcement. After Jane took the first step in legal proceedings with the intention of bringing a judicial review, Ofcom announced it had opened an investigation into the forum. The police also re-opened the criminal investigation after correspondence from Leigh Day.

* ‘Jane’ is a pseudonym used to protect this survivor’s identity.

ENDS

About Refuge

Refuge supports thousands of survivors on any given day, and every two minutes someone turns to Refuge for help. It operates the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, which is the gateway to specialist support. More than one in four women in England and Wales will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, and on average, every five days a woman is killed by a current or former partner.

The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is available on 0808 2000 247 for free, confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A live chat service is also available from 10am to 10pm, Monday to Friday, and from 10am to 6pm on weekends. For further information and advice, visit www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk. For support with tech-facilitated abuse, visit www.refugetechsafety.org.

About the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW)

The End Violence Against Women Coalition is the UK’s largest coalition of feminist organisations and experts from across the UK, working to end violence against women and girls in all its forms. Made up of 170+ specialist women’s support services, researchers, activists, survivors and NGOs, we campaign for policy, law and attitude change.