Archive · 9 Oct 2026
AI, Gendered Abuse and Women’s Right to Be Heard
AI can help women share ideas with more people.
But it can also be used to fake their voices or make harmful false pictures of them.
Women should be able to take part in public life and still be judged fairly for their ideas and decisions.
Attacking their appearance, sexuality or family is different from disagreeing with their views.
Such attacks can make women speak less or leave public life.
Online platforms can remove harmful posts, but that does not fix the attitudes behind them.
The author says technology companies, politicians, journalists and ordinary people all have a role in changing those attitudes.
Success should mean that women feel able to keep speaking, organising and leading.
AI can help women communicate and participate in public life, but it can also enable impersonation and fabricated sexualised imagery.
The article distinguishes legitimate scrutiny of women’s policies and decisions from gendered attacks on their bodies, sexuality, families or morality.
Online abuse can lead women to post less, avoid subjects, withdraw from public life or decide against entering it.
The author argues that platform moderation can limit harmful content but cannot, alone, change the social norms that enable gendered abuse.
Technology companies, political actors, citizens, journalists and civil society are urged to share responsibility and measure whether women can participate more freely.
- Who
- Women in public life, alongside technology companies, political leaders and parties, citizens, journalists and civil society.
- What
- An opinion article argues that AI-related and other gendered online abuse can undermine women’s participation, and calls for shared action.
- Where
- Digital spaces and public life; the article also refers to the Trust and Safety India Festival.
- Why
- Gendered abuse can impose social and personal costs that discourage women from speaking, organising and leading.
Protecting participation
Preserving scrutiny
Online abuse and platform action
Protecting participation
Platforms should improve detection, enforcement, reporting and support, including safeguards against non-consensual sexual imagery.
Preserving scrutiny
Content removal can reduce exposure to harm, but it cannot by itself change the social norms or political culture that enable abuse.
Criticism of women in public life
Protecting participation
Gendered attacks on a woman’s sexuality, appearance, family or morality can intimidate her and make participation harder.
Preserving scrutiny
Women in public life should face robust scrutiny and disagreement about their policies, decisions, political judgment and record.
- Article type
- Opinion
- Author
- Ranjana Kumari
- Author's role
- Director, Centre for Social Research
- Key distinction
- Scrutiny of policies and decisions is different from gendered personal attacks.
- Proposed response
- Combine platform safeguards with action by political actors, citizens, journalists and civil society.
- Referenced event
- Trust and Safety India Festival, convened by Centre for Social Research
- Suggested measure of progress
- Whether women receive timely assistance and feel able to continue speaking, organising and leading.