EIGE - European Institute for Gender Equality

05/18/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/18/2026 02:53

Growing up online: how violence follows girls across platforms

New EIGE research on cyber violence against teenage girls exposes a pattern of online harm that policymakers can no longer treat as exceptional.

She checks her phone before getting out of bed. Not that she wants to, but she has to know what's been said about her overnight before facing it at school.

New research from EIGE reveals that this is a common morning ritual for girls across Europe.

The report, Combatting cyber violence against girls, - out end of June 2026 - is based on focus groups with 133 young women aged 13 to 18 across ten EU Member States.

It puts lived experience at the centre of what we know about cyber violence. The findings make for an uncomfortable read, but they provide valuable insights for policymakers to change this all-too-common reality for teenage girls online.

The scale of the problem

More than one in ten women (12.3%) experiences online abuse, including threats, stalking, harassment and image-based abuse, according to the EU gender-based violence survey.

However, the latest EIGE research paints an even more disturbing picture for teenage girls.

Girls in the study said that almost everyone in their peer group has experienced some form of online abuse.

The findings suggest insults, mockery and harassment are commonplace in chats and comments. And that abuse is not confined to a single platform. It adapts depending on the specific technical features of each platform. From inappropriate content disguised as child-friendly on YouTube to harassment via direct messaging on Instagram - keeping users on guard all the time.



How girls experience cyber violence changes as they get older.

  • Younger girls, aged 13 to 15, talk of exclusion from group chats, body shaming, gossip and public humiliation.
  • Older girls, aged 16 to 18, describe a shift where the abuse becomes sexualised and controlling, including coercion, deepfakes and grooming.

One participant from Poland says: "A female friend writes, 'I'm sorry, I'm underage, please don't write to me', and a man of 50+ writes back, 'it's okay, I don't mind'."

Another girl tells how she discovered her ex-partner had secretly photographed her during intimate moments, and was terrified the images could resurface.

Why online abuse keeps happening

Cyber violence against girls persists because the social environment allows it to.

EIGE research found that for some boys, harassment is a form of performance. Sharing an intimate image, targeting a girl online or joining a pile-on are acts that earn status.

One participant says girls are treated as "trophies to show off to your friends", while "having lots of girlfriends is seen as being an alpha male, a strong male."

Asha Allen, Director of CDT Europe and a leading voice on digital rights and gender-based violence, sees the normalisation problem as inseparable from institutional failure.

"For many advocates, the conversation started around cyberbullying. A lot of research and analysis had to be done to establish what's happening online is a continuum of gender-based violence," she says.

"Recognition that some forms of online harm are criminal offences has only come recently. Whereas others, though not necessarily criminal, do still cause significant harm."

Dr Leonie Tanczer, Associate Professor in International Security and Emerging Technologies at University College London, who contributed to review EIGE's research, argues that the response to cyber violence has been lopsided.

"There is always the onus on women and girls to change their behaviour, whether that means going offline, documenting abuse or going on online safety training courses," she says. "I have been advocating for a shift towards more focused intervention, which, with the rise of the manosphere, is more timely than ever."



EIGE's research suggests most adolescents have witnessed online abuse without intervening. That pattern could be driven by fear of becoming a target or losing standing.

"People aren't going to listen if you just say, 'stop'. Words aren't going to do much," one boy told researchers. While girls in Belgium described cyberbullying simply as "part of life".

Part two coming soon: who is responsible for stopping this phenomenon in its tracks?

Asha Allen is Director and Secretary General of the Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe Office in Brussels. She previously served as Deputy Director and Programme Director for Online Expression & Civic Space. In that capacity, she led CDT Europe's work on issues at the intersection of online expression, civic engagement, and technology, focusing on advocating for the preservation of fundamental rights in European Union/Regional legislation, and democratic accountability in industry content policies.

Dr. Leonie Maria Tanczer is an Associate Professor in International Security and Emerging Technologies at University College London's (UCL) Department of Computer Science and a grant holder of the prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF). She is part of UCL's Information Security Research Group (ISec) and leads the Gender and Tech Research Lab, which investigates the intersection of technology, (cyber)security, and gender to make digital systems work for everyone.

EIGE - European Institute for Gender Equality published this content on May 18, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 18, 2026 at 08:53 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]