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European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Speech by Commissioner Lahbib on Combatting Cyber Violence Against Girls New York, 11 March 2026 Last summer, I became a grandmother for the first time. A little girl named Jenna. When she is with me, I sometimes check messages on my phone. The moment she sees the bright screen and the colourful apps, she grabs it. My instinct is to pull it away, as if she were re...
European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Speech by Commissioner Lahbib on Combatting Cyber Violence Against Girls New York, 11 March 2026 Last summer, I became a grandmother for the first time. A little girl named Jenna. When she is with me, I sometimes check messages on my phone. The moment she sees the bright screen and the colourful apps, she grabs it. My instinct is to pull it away, as if she were reaching for a sharp knife. When you think about it, that instinct should feel strange. This device is one of the most powerful tools for creativity and connection ever created. Yet, we know it can do real harm. That is today's reality. Cyberviolence against girls is getting worse. The question for all of us is simple: how do we make the digital world a place of opportunity for girls, not a place of danger? That is why this conversation matters. Last week, I presented our Gender Equality Strategy for the next five years. This Strategy puts a clear spotlight on gender-based cyber violence. Allow me to highlight three priorities. First, strong laws. Addressing cyberviolence is now a central part of our response to violence against women. It is firmly addressed in the EU Directive on combating violence against women. Now we must put it into action. The Directive requires Member States to take concrete action against gender-based cyberviolence. It makes certain forms of online abuse a crime. Violence is violence whether it happens on the street or on a screen. Our Gender Equality Strategy also commits to the full enforcement of the Digital Services Act, recognising gender-based violence as a systemic risk online. Platforms must assess these risks and take real action to reduce them. We will launch a regulatory structured dialogue with online platforms on addressing gender-based cyber violence. We will also build the capacity of trusted flaggers, to make sure more illegal gender- based violence content is flagged and removed. In Europe, tech companies are not above the law. My second point concerns technology. The digital world moves at the speed of light, so we need to move just as quickly. Artificial intelligence is a clear example. AI offers extraordinary opportunities, but it can also generate new forms of abuse, such as deepfakes. That is why the EU's AI Act sets clear boundaries to eliminate gender bias in algorithms and require platforms to act when illegal content appears. We are also tackling cyberbullying. One in six adolescents has experienced cyberbullying, and one in eight admits to having taken part in it. Girls face more harassment and more sexualised abuse online. That is why the Commission launched a new Action Plan against Cyberbullying, calling on Member States to develop their own strategies. We are also preparing an Action Plan on the Protection of Children against Crime. Children face many threats today, online and offline, from grooming and trafficking to recruitment by organised crime. Our response must protect children both as victims and as those who may be drawn into crime. My third point focuses on cooperation. The internet does not stop at borders, so we must work together to keep everyone safe. Through the Global Action on Cybercrime Enhanced, the GLACY-e programme, we are supporting specialised training for justice professionals in Latin America, with a strong focus on gender in cybercrime. Through the EU's Gender Action Plan III, we are also supporting women's leadership in digital technologies. This promotes gender-sensitive digital policies and helps women and girls thrive in the digital world. Through the Team Europe initiative on women's leadership in the public ICT sector, we are working to make digital spaces safer for women and girls. Real change needs everyone on board: governments, schools, families, tech companies, and civil society. Because this is about more than changing policy. It is about changing mindsets: girls and boys, women and men, in all their diversity. When we think of our children, we all want the same thing. When their screens light up, they should enter a world, not of darkness, but of curiosity, confidence, and above all, safety. SPEECH/26/596
Speech Brief