A safer digital future: How Viet Nam can lead the fight against technology-facilitated gender-based violence

Authors: Caroline Nyamayemombe and Pauline Tamesis*

Viet Nam has made notable progress in advancing gender equality and promoting women’s rights. Its commitment is reflected in strong national policies, investments in digital transformation, and increasing participation of women in public life. The country has also demonstrated global leadership through the Ha Noi Convention on Cybercrime, signaling its determination to foster a safer, more resilient digital environment for all.

As technology reshapes every part of society, digital spaces have become central to how people learn, work, connect, and express themselves. But alongside opportunity, the online world has also given rise to new risks — including technology-facilitated gender-based violence. This form of violence encompasses image-based abuse, cyberstalking, impersonation, deepfakes, and online harassment. It mirrors and amplifies offline inequalities, often escalating tensions in relationships and increasing the risk of physical harm.

According to the United Nations, global studies estimate that 16 per cent to 58 per cent of women and girls have experienced technology-facilitated violence, and about 300 million children suffer online exploitation each year.^[1] In Viet Nam, 2 per cent of adolescents aged 15-17 reported having exchanged sexual images and videos of themselves for money or gifts – known as online child sexual exploitation.^[2]

With 86 per cent of Viet Nam’s population online in 2024,^[3] the digital world has become a new frontline in the fight against gender-based violence. Yet awareness of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TF GBV) remains limited and response mechanisms are still under development.

The UN Global Digital Compact calls for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and efforts to counter and eliminate all forms of violence, including sexual and gender based violence that occurs through or is amplified by the use of technology. Through cooperation with Member States, the UN is working with the Government of Viet Nam and national partners to strengthen prevention and response. The UN Joint Programme on Ending Violence Against Women and Children (EVAWC), funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, joins the efforts of UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women.

Since 2023, the EVAWC Programme has helped strengthen Viet Nam’s digital safety and resilience. Through campus dialogues, influencer engagement, and public messaging, the programme built practical skills to prevent and respond to technology-facilitated GBV, helping women, adolescent girls and parents build confidence and share responsibility for safer digital spaces.

Beyond the Joint Program, the UN promotes online safety for women and children and access to quality and comprehensive care for survivors. One Stop Service Centers in Ho Chi Minh City and 7 Anh Duong houses nationwide and capacity building of service providers equip frontline responders to recognize and respond to online abuse. In 2023, over 30 women’s groups were trained on cybersecurity and solidarity networks, a Safety App (S-App) developed in Đà Nẵng and the e-Peace House platform is under design. These interventions are being developed to enable access to help with a click. Communications campaigns, such as the 16 Days of Activism led by UN Women, campaigns against sexual trafficking by IOM, or against cyber bullying by UNESCO, child protection by UNICEF, advocate for various forms of online safety for women and girls, reaching millions of people in Viet Nam.

As with offline violence, a whole-of-society approach is needed. The Government of Viet Nam is making important strides, collaborating with platforms such as Facebook, Google, TikTok, and YouTube to combat online child sexual abuse. These efforts align with Viet Nam’s first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, which underscores women’s right to live free from violence — online and offline.

To harness the positive potential of technology and reduce its risks for women and girls, four actions are critical:

1. Improve the law. Viet Nam should establish clear legal definitions and penalties for technology-facilitated GBV — including image-based violence, cyberstalking, and doxing — and ensure swift, victim-survivor-sensitive investigation and prosecution.
2. Hold technology companies accountable. Platforms must strengthen content moderation, privacy protections, and transparent reporting systems. Partnerships between government, tech firms, and civil society can accelerate the rapid takedown of harmful content and support survivors seeking redress.
3. Empower women and girls in the digital space. Invest in nationwide digital literacy and safety programmes — particularly for women and girls in rural, ethnic minority, and low-income communities — so that they can navigate, report, and resist online harm.
4. Build system and workforce capacity. Upskill police, prosecutors, health and social service providers, and educators with the knowledge, tools, and digital literacy to recognize, investigate, and respond to technology-facilitated GBV - ensuring online and offline responses are integrated and victim-survivor centered.

Ending technology-facilitated gender-based violence demands awareness, accountability, and action. Every click, share, and post is a choice — to build a digital world that is safe, respectful, and inclusive.

Viet Nam’s digital transformation agenda can lead by example — creating a future where every woman and girl can connect, speak, and thrive online — free from fear.

NOTE:

• [1] United Nations. (2024, October 8). Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls: Technology-facilitated violence against women and girls – Report of the Secretary-General (UN Doc. A/79/500).
• [2] ECPAT International, INTERPOL & UNICEF Innocenti. (2022). Disrupting Harm in Viet Nam: Evidence on online child sexual exploitation and abuse [Household survey & multi-method national study]. Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.
• [3] International Trade Administration. (2024, January 30). Vietnam – E-commerce. Country Commercial Guide. U.S. Department of Commerce.