GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women (2021)

The application of the Istanbul Convention in relation to the digital dimension of violence against women

For many years now, women’s and girls’ experiences of gender-based violence against women have been amplified or facilitated by technology, in particular the technology used in online and digital environments. Information and communication technology (ICT) has enabled the perpetration of violence against women on a scale previously unknown. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has further amplified this. GREVIO regards the perpetration of violence against women online or with the help of technology as a continuity of the different forms of such violence that affects and exacerbates women and girls’ experiences of gender-based violence against women to an alarming extent.

GREVIO, the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, is a human rights monitoring body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts. It is mandated to monitor the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) by the Parties and may adopt general recommendations on the implementation of this convention.