Kholoud al‑Ameri, an Iraqi journalist and editor of a news website, says that female journalists in her country regularly receive unwanted messages, mostly from men. “They find you online and say they just want to talk or ask to be added on Instagram or Facebook,” she explains. Al‑Ameri, who also leads a network of women journalists covering climate change, adds that while some men claim to be readers, the most effective response is to advise women to block such contacts.
Similarly, Syrian activist Yaman Amer, a law student in Damascus, reports receiving hundreds of hostile comments whenever she writes about women’s rights online. “In a patriarchal society, this is how things are,” she notes. “Out of every thousand offensive comments, one or two are especially vile—extremely vulgar or threatening—and they go beyond harassment to become deeply humiliating and degrading.”
Above‑average Abuse
Globally, between 40 % and 60 % of women have experienced online harassment, with 65 % witnessing it. In the Middle East, however, the rate of technology‑facilitated gender‑based violence (TFGBV) appears higher than the world average. The United Nations Population Fund defines TFGBV as a harmful act “committed, assisted, aggravated or amplified … by the use of information‑communication technologies … against a person on the basis of their gender.”
UN Women research shows that 68 % of women in the region have faced TFGBV, while nearly 100 % have seen it online. A 2025 UN Women study found that 49 % of internet‑using women in the Middle East do not feel safe from online harassment; the figure rises to almost 70 % for women who are publicly visible activists, journalists or politicians.
Artificial‑intelligence applications are making this problem worse. According to a UN Women briefing, AI “can super‑charge this kind of abuse by facilitating the spread of targeted disinformation as well as the proliferation of image‑based abuse and deep‑fake pornographic videos.” Roughly one‑quarter of women who have experienced online violence while working reported “abuse that was generated or amplified by AI tools.”
AI Makes Abuse Easier
The capacity to weaponise new technology has always existed, says Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan of the London‑based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). “What has changed is the ability to produce harmful content at scale and in a hyper‑targeted way. The production of non‑consensual imagery now reaches ordinary people, not just celebrities—a real democratisation of the technology.”
Venkataramakrishnan highlighted the early‑2026 scandal involving Grok, Elon Musk’s AI‑powered chatbot, which could alter photographs to depict fully clothed subjects as nearly naked. Although Grok’s services were later restricted, safeguards across AI models remain inconsistent, and users can often find work‑arounds to achieve similar results.
In conservative Middle‑Eastern cultures, the threat of publishing a half‑naked image of a woman can have serious real‑world consequences, reflecting prevailing norms about female behaviour. Moreover, online abuse in the region is more likely to spill over into offline life.
A June World Bank briefing notes that “norms related to honor, family reputation and male control can turn digital abuse into real‑world consequences.”
Women in Germany fight back against digital harassment
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Lack of Specific Laws
Even where cyber‑crime statutes exist, most Middle‑Eastern countries have not tailored them to address gender‑based online violence, nor have they updated them to confront AI‑related abuse. A UN Women survey last year revealed that 36 % of women were simply told to ignore the violence, 23 % were blamed for it, and 12 % faced physical punishment from family members.
Only about 7 % of women who experience technology‑facilitated violence later report it to law‑enforcement agencies. Concerns that reporting requires them to present sexualised images or answer intimate questions in front of strangers—situations many women find anathema—act as deterrents.
Respondents said they often resorted to blocking perpetrators; a quarter became more cautious about what they posted online, and 20 % deleted their accounts or quit social media altogether.
Conflict Situations
Displacement, war, conflict and instability increase women’s vulnerability to online abuse and exploitation. The rapid development of AI‑related technologies in environments lacking legal guardrails or digital literacy can further elevate the risk.
Saudi Arabia, a socially conservative state with strict regulations on female conduct, is undergoing an accelerated digital transformation, observers note. In Syria, following the ousting of the Assad regime, many citizens “rushed into social media to speak freely,” according to journalist Zaina Erhaim of the Arab Reform Initiative.
Previously, a political post could land its author in jail under the dictator’s tight digital controls. Now Syrians “are navigating this newfound liberty without guardrails, oversight or protection,” Erhaim argues, and female activists are paying a high price, especially where “gender intersects with sect.”
A policy paper released in May by the Syrian Women’s Political Movement highlighted the severity of digital abuse. Focus groups with 120 women from across Syria found that most agreed digital harassment is used to silence them. Younger activists reported that personal pictures had been stolen from their social‑media accounts and weaponised against them.
“Smear campaigns targeting women’s ‘honor’ and systemic defamation are actively deployed as punitive measures against any women who attempt to express a critical political opinion,” the organization wrote, calling for legislation that criminalises digital violence.
Women push for political power and equality in new Syria
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