The 2025 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI) will be commemorated globally under the theme “Chat GBV: Raising Awareness on AI-facilitated Gender-Based Violence against Women Journalists.” The observance highlights the growing threats women journalists face in digital spaces and the chilling effect this has on freedom of expression.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), this year’s commemoration, taking place on November 2, 2025, will not feature a central global conference. Instead, the organisation has encouraged partners and networks to organise national-level events and activities, allowing local stakeholders to invest their energies into contextualising the thematic issues of crimes against journalists and impunity for their own settings.
According to UNESCO, women journalists are increasingly targeted by AI-driven threats such as gendered disinformation, surveillance, deepfakes, and online harassment, which are forms of abuse collectively known as Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV). Data from UNESCO’s 2021 study “The Chilling” showed that 73% of women journalists had faced online threats, with one in four later subjected to offline attacks.
Field research further confirms these alarming trends. In Zimbabwe, 63% of surveyed women journalists reported experiencing TFGBV, while in Ukraine, 81% said they had faced gendered online violence, including defamation, trolling, and threats extending to family members.
As part of IDEI 2025, UNESCO will disseminate a global campaign on AI-facilitated gender-based violence, seeking to raise awareness of the grave risks to women journalists and other marginalised and vulnerable groups practicing journalism and the chilling effect on freedom of expression. The campaign draws on UNESCO’s programming on the safety of women journalists, the findings assembled for the forthcoming 2025 World Trends Report on Freedom of Expression and Media Development, and the recommendations from the Beijing + 30 consultation and experts report to UNESCO.
The initiative reinforces the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, urging governments, media institutions, and digital platforms to take concrete steps toward accountability and protection.
