Publication: Protecting Women and Girls from Cyber Harassment: A Global Assessment of Existing Laws
Loading...
Date
2025-04-17
ISSN
Published
2025-04-17
Author(s)
Affoum, Nelsy Reyhanne Marikel
Santagostino Recavarren, Isabel Micaela
Vohra, Nayantara
Editor(s)
Abstract
Cyber violence against women has been rising at alarming rates in recent decades. Such acts not only harm women as individuals but have severe detrimental effects on society and the economy at large. This Brief analyzes laws from 190 economies to assess the extent and coverage of current legislative safeguards women from cyber harassment, one of the many forms of cyber violence. Data collected by the World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law project reveals that laws that protect women against cyber harassment exist in only about one-third of economies, covering less than half of the population of children, adolescent girls, and women. Enhancing legal protections is crucial to effectively tackle cyber violence against women.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Affoum, Nelsy Reyhanne Marikel; Santagostino Recavarren, Isabel Micaela; Vohra, Nayantara; Wodon, Quentin. 2025. Protecting Women and Girls from Cyber Harassment: A Global Assessment of Existing Laws. Global Indicators Briefs; No. 18. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43092 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication How Did India Successfully Reform Women’s Rights? Part II(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-17)This two-part policy brief series traces the development and reform of law in India related to three critical areas that affect women’s rights and economic opportunities: women’s property rights, domestic violence, and sexual harassment in the workplace. It explores the underlying factors and driving forces that led to reforms as well as the broad processes and extensive timelines required for change. It also highlights remaining gaps, including the absence of robust implementation as well as how inadequate administrative and infrastructural support for reform hinder true gender equality in a deeply patriarchal society. The achievements in India, which are the result of years of concerted eff-orts and thought leadership by multiple governmental and nongovernmental players, private actors, and women’s rights activists, could function as a how to guide for other countries that may want to carry out similar reforms in the future. This second Brief in the series explores the decades-long journey that led to the adoption of the 2005 Domestic Violence Act and the 2013 Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, and highlights remaining legal and implementation gaps in the effective elimination of violence against women.Publication Key Ingredients to Women’s Legal Rights in Kenya(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-03-24)Legislative reforms to increase gender equality before the law are often long and complex processes. This brief focuses on a series of reforms in Kenya, specifically, the adoption of the Sexual Offenses Act of 2006, the Employment Act of 2007, and the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act of 2015. Strong evidence, broad coalitions, and incorporating the highest standards based on international best practice in early legal drafts are singled out as the key elements that led to the successful adoption of these landmark laws promoting women’s rights in Kenya. The lessons in this brief can provide important insights for policy makers, advocacy groups and international organizations involved in the pursuit of legal gender equality in Kenya and other countries.Publication Protecting Women from Violence(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12)For years, Marta was abused by her husband. Eventually she reached out to the police, the Carabineros de Chile – who are tasked with helping survivors of domestic violence. The police referred Marta to a public prosecutor for immediate protection and Marta and her daughter were placed in a shelter run by a government-funded non-profit organization Fundación Honra. With Fundación Honra’s help Marta eventually rented an apartment and got a job. Marta’s story is not unique to Chile. Many women worldwide who experience violence do not readily report it or seek help. This is often due to the lack of quality services and adequate support networks, as well as social and cultural norms.2 Survivors of violence3 may also feel the police are unwilling or unable to help.4 A study examining Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) data across 24 countries found that 40 percent of women experiencing gender-based violence disclosed it to someone, but only 7 percent reported to a formal source.5 In many cases, even when women seek help from the authorities, the response can be inadequate. Recognizing the need to enhance efforts to address violence against women, governments have started implementing recommendations and adopting additional protection measures and services set out in international and regional instruments including the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Belem do Pará Convention and the Maputo Protocol. According to these legal frameworks, adopting implementation measures aiming at increasing effectiveness of legislation is part of the State’s duty to act in protecting women from violence.Publication Laws and Policies to Address Violence Against Women in Countries Affected by Fragility and Conflict(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2024-01-23)This Brief presents data collected by the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law (WBL) project on legal and supportive frameworks to curb domestic violence and sexual harassment in 55 countries, including 17 categorized as affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). Analysis of the data reveals glaring gaps in the legal and supportive frameworks currently in place to protect women from on laws and policies currently in place in FCV countries, as well as the gaps, thePublication How Did India Successfully Reform Women’s Rights? Part I(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-17)This two-part policy brief series traces the development and reform of law in India related to three critical areas that affect women’s rights and economic opportunities: women’s property rights, domestic violence, and sexual harassment in the workplace. It explores the underlying factors and driving forces that led to reforms as well as the broad processes and extensive timelines required for change. It also highlights the remaining gaps in the rights for Indian women, including how the absence of robust implementation as well as inadequate administrative and infrastructural support for reform—coupled with deeply entrenched patriarchal mindsets—often makes real gender equality elusive for many. The achievements in India, which are the result of years of concerted efforts and thought leadership by multiple governmental and nongovernmental players, private actors, and women’s rights activists, could function as a “how to” guide for other countries that may want to carry out similar reforms in the future. This first brief in the series explores the reform of (Hindu) women’s inheritance rights. Starting in 1975, several states reformed the (federal) Hindu Succession Act of 1956, improving women’s rights to inheritance, until a federal reform occurred in 2005. However, additional reforms are needed in order to overcome gender discriminatory legal provisions.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Air Quality Management in Central Asia(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-02)This report aims to enhance the understanding of the priorities, needs, and solutions for improving air quality (AQ) in Central Asia (CA) through local action and regional collaboration. It focuses on key components of holistic air quality management (AQM): evidence-based analytics to identify the main sources of air pollution in CA, application of modern tools to assess the impact of cost-effective measures to improve AQ, assessment of the institutional and governance setup for AQM in CA with recommendations to strengthen it, and approaches to financing AQ improvement. Given the lack of comprehensive systematic and validated emission inventories of all PM2.5 precursor emissions, the technical assessment employs the regional emission inventory of the Greenhouse Gas - Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model. Input data were updated for this study based on recent energy statistics and relevant national surveys. This report addresses emissions and the regional transboundary flows of pollution between Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Subsequently, the resulting PM2.5 concentrations in ambient air throughout CA were computed with the atmospheric chemistry and transport calculations of the GAINS model. Employing the source apportionment results of the GAINS model, the analysis then examines the contributions to PM2.5 population exposure. The report also presents source apportionment analyses for important air pollution hot spots in CA: Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Bishkek (the Kyrgyz Republic), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Astana, and Almaty (Kazakhstan).Publication State of Social Protection Report 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-07)Social protection goes well beyond cash transfers; it includes policies and programs that bridge skill, financial, and information gaps, aiding people in securing better jobs. The three pillars of social protection—social assistance, social insurance, and labor market programs—support households and workers in handling crises, escaping poverty, facing transitions, and seizing employment opportunities. But despite a substantial expansion over the past decade, 2 billion people remain uncovered or inadequately covered across low- and middle-income countries. Drawing from administrative and household survey data from the World Bank’s Atlas of Social Protection Indicators of Resilience and Equity (ASPIRE), the "State of Social Protection Report 2025: The 2-Billion-Person Challenge" documents advances and challenges to strengthening social protection and labor systems across low- and middle-income countries, analyzing the evolution of expenditure, coverage, and adequacy of support. This report details four policy action areas governments can embrace to maximize the benefits of adequate social protection for all: extending social protection to those in need; strengthening the adequacy of social protection support; building shock-proof social protection systems; and optimizing social protection financing. The report discusses how the path of reforms will depend on country context, capacity, and fiscal space. The rising frequency of shocks and crises calls for major investments in the adaptability and preparedness of social protection and labor systems. Amid a world in transition, social protection is more important and necessary than ever.Publication Cities’ Partnership Initiative(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-24)Sustainable urban development is one of the key areas of development policy in Poland, which is in line with global trends. Sustainable urban development requires an integrated approach that takes into account the complexity and dynamics of phenomena and processes taking place in the urban environment. Meeting the challenges of urban development requires, on the one hand, a steady increase in the capacity of cities to plan and implement development projects, and on the other hand, a favorable regulatory and financial framework and support instruments that are an adequate response to the needs of urban centers. The Cities’ Partnership Initiative (CPI) is a flagship project of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy of Poland (MDFRP) aimed at supporting sustainable urban development. This final report is the third product of the Reimbursable Advisory Service Agreement on Sustainable Urban Development - Cities’ Partnership Initiative concluded between the MDFRP and the World Bank on January 28, 2022. The report summarizes the project work, including the results of the work of 30 CPI-participating cities, and presents conclusions and recommendations on the three thematic networks and the CPI formula itself.Publication Commodity Markets Outlook, April 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-29)Commodity prices are set to fall sharply this year, by about 12 percent overall, as weakening global economic growth weighs on demand. In 2026, commodity prices are projected to reach a six-year low. Oil prices are expected to exert substantial downward pressure on the aggregate commodity index in 2025, as a marked slowdown in global oil consumption coincides with expanding supply. The anticipated commodity price softening is broad-based, however, with more than half of the commodities in the forecast set to decrease this year, many by more than 10 percent. The latest shocks to hit commodity markets extend a so far tumultuous decade, marked by the highest level of commodity price volatility in at least half a century. Between 2020 and 2024, commodity price swings were frequent and sharp, with knock-on consequences for economic activity and inflation. In the next two years, commodity prices are expected to put downward pressure on global inflation. Risks to the commodity price projections are tilted to the downside. A sharper-than-expected slowdown in global growth—driven by worsening trade relations or a prolonged tightening of financial conditions—could further depress commodity demand, especially for industrial products. In addition, if OPEC+ fully unwinds its voluntary supply cuts, oil production will far exceed projected consumption. There are also important upside risks to commodity prices—for instance, if geopolitical tensions worsen, threatening oil and gas supplies, or if extreme weather events lead to agricultural and energy price spikes.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.