What is the 16 Days of Activism?
The 16 Days of Activism is a global campaign that starts on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and ends on 10 December, Human Rights Day.
The campaign calls on individuals, organisations and communities to take action to prevent and eliminate all forms of gender-based violence.
In Newham, the campaign also includes White Ribbon Day on 25 November, when people wear a white ribbon as a promise to never use, excuse or stay silent about violence against women and girls.
This Year’s Theme: End Digital Violence
Abuse doesn’t stop in the physical world.
Women and girls are increasingly targeted online through threats, stalking, image-based abuse and harassment. This year’s theme shines a light on digital violence and the importance of making every space, physical and online, safe and respectful.
What is digital abuse?
Digital tools are increasingly being used to stalk, harass, and abuse women and girls. This includes:
- Image-based abuse/ non-consensual sharing of intimate images – often called revenge porn or leaked nudes.
- Cyberbullying, trolling, and online threats.
- Online harassment and sexual harassment.
- AI-generated deepfakes such as sexually explicit images, deepfake pornography, and digitally manipulated images, videos or audio.
- Hate speech and disinformation on social media platforms.
- Doxxing – publishing private information.
- Online stalking or surveillance/tracking to monitor someone’s activities.
- Online grooming and sexual exploitation.
- Catfishing and impersonation.
- Misogynistic networks – e.g. manosphere, incel forums.
These acts don’t just happen online. They often lead to offline violence in real life, such as coercion, physical abuse, and even femicide – killing of women and girls. The harm can be long-lasting and affect survivors over a prolonged period.
Digital violence targets women more than men, across all walks of life, but especially those with public or online visibility – such as activists, journalists, women in politics, human rights defenders, and young women.
