“When you get away from your abusers, you feel kind of safe, but digital violence is following you around everywhere you go,” says Ljubica Fuentes. This chilling observation is not merely a theoretical concern for Fuentes; it is the lived reality that redirected the course of her life and career. For the Ecuadorian human rights lawyer, the transition from a promising law student to a targeted activist began with a single, defiant act of speech in a place that should have been a sanctuary for intellectual growth: the university classroom.
The catalyst was a moment of overt sexism at Ecuador’s largest public university. During a lecture, a professor claimed that women were not truly destined to be lawyers, asserting instead that they were only enrolled “to pick up some guy.” When Fuentes raised her hand to object to this dismissal of her professional aspirations and those of her female peers, she was immediately branded with the derogatory label “feminazi.” What began as localized classroom harassment quickly mutated, fueled by the reach and anonymity of the internet, into a pervasive digital nightmare that threatened her physical safety and mental well-being.
The harassment followed a terrifyingly familiar trajectory. Classroom whispers transformed into a flood of private messages on Instagram, demanding she cease her advocacy for women’s rights. Anonymous users seized control of her campus Facebook page, saturating it with threats. Soon, the digital vitriol bled back into the physical world; notes containing rape threats circulated on campus, and rumors reached Fuentes that individuals had been hired to physically assault her. The psychological weight of being hunted in both virtual and physical spaces became unbearable. “I realized that I needed to be outside of the campus for my sanity and integrity,” Fuentes recalls. In the middle of the night, she fled, seeking refuge in a semester abroad to escape a situation that had become life-threatening. Today, Fuentes has transformed that trauma into a mission, serving as a human rights lawyer and the founder of an organization dedicated to eradicating gender-based violence within higher education.
Fuentes’ story is a microcosm of a global epidemic that is often dismissed as “just the internet.” However, data suggests that digital abuse is a systemic crisis. Statistics indicate that between 16 and 58 percent of women worldwide have experienced technology-facilitated gender-based violence. A comprehensive study by the Economist Intelligence Unit revealed that 38 percent of women have personally endured online abuse, while a staggering 85 percent have witnessed it directed at others. These are not isolated incidents of “trolling”; they are part of a coordinated effort to silence women in public and private spaces.
The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a massive accelerant for this trend. As the world moved into lockdown, the machinery of harassment moved with it. “Patriarchy understood how to change in order to reach people inside homes,” Fuentes explains. The digital sphere provided the perfect environment for abuse to flourish without the immediate social consequences of face-to-face interaction. “Online, everyone becomes braver. People were able to hide behind the screen and a fake user ID.” This anonymity has fostered the growth of the “manosphere,” a digital ecosystem where misogyny is not only tolerated but celebrated, creating a feedback loop that radicalizes users and normalizes the harassment of women activists.
The impact of this violence is devastatingly tangible. For survivors like Fuentes, the digital world becomes a space of constant surveillance. Every post, every shared opinion, and every digital friendship is scrutinized by bad actors looking for a point of attack. “The constant scrutiny takes away your peace,” Fuentes says. “You always have to be 120 percent prepared to make an opinion online. If you are a feminist, if you are an activist, you don’t have the right to be wrong. You are not allowed to even have a past.” This environment forces women into a state of self-censorship, effectively chilling their freedom of speech and participation in public life.
The risks are particularly acute for young women, girls, and those in high-profile professions. Research shows that 58 percent of girls have faced online harassment, often at a developmental stage where such trauma can have lifelong effects on self-esteem and ambition. In the professional realm, women journalists are primary targets; a 2020 UNESCO report found that 73 percent of women journalists had experienced online violence in the course of their work. The consequences are far-reaching: women are abandoning their educations, retreating from social media, suffering from severe mental health crises, and in the most extreme cases, facing physical violence or femicide when digital threats escalate into offline attacks.
Despite the clear and present danger posed by digital violence, the global legal infrastructure remains woefully inadequate. Less than half of the world’s countries have enacted laws specifically designed to prosecute online abuse. This legislative void creates a “justice gap” that leaves survivors with little recourse. “They don’t have laws that say anything about this problem,” Fuentes notes. Even when laws do exist, the institutional response is often discouraging. Survivors who approach public defenders are frequently met with skepticism or told they must wait years for a resolution, leading many to ask if the pursuit of justice is even worth the secondary trauma of the legal process.
In the face of this systemic failure, grassroots feminist organizations have become the primary line of defense. Fuentes’ organization, Ciudadanas del Mundo, now works with 600 individuals annually, focusing on early prevention and helping universities establish safety protocols. They provide vital legal support to survivors and mobilize over 1,000 people each year for advocacy campaigns. This work is supported by the ACT Programme, a collaborative effort between the European Commission and UN Women. As a member of the Civil Society Steering Committee for the ACT Programme, Fuentes ensures that international initiatives remain grounded in the lived realities of women and girls on the front lines.
However, the future of this essential work is currently under threat. While independent feminist movements are the most significant drivers of policy change regarding violence against women, they are facing unprecedented funding challenges. A 2025 UN Women survey conducted under the ACT Programme revealed a dire situation: 34 percent of organizations reported that funding cuts had forced the suspension of programs, and 89 percent reported severe reductions in access to support services for survivors. These cuts do more than just balance budgets; they dismantle the safety nets that protect women from digital and physical harm.
As the international community looks toward the future, the message from activists like Fuentes is clear: digital violence must be recognized as real violence. This requires a multi-pronged approach involving governments, tech companies, and educational institutions. Governments must modernize their legal frameworks to address technology-facilitated abuse, and tech companies must move beyond performative safety measures to take genuine responsibility for the violence occurring on their platforms.
For those currently facing digital violence, Fuentes offers a message of solidarity and resilience. She advocates for the preservation of evidence, the seeking of community support, and the refusal to be silenced. Her own journey came full circle when she served as the legal representative in a case against the very teacher who had once told her she couldn’t be a lawyer. It was a moment of profound justice, proving that the voices patriarchy seeks to stifle are often the ones that eventually dismantle it.
“I will endure everything again,” Fuentes says, reflecting on her journey with a mixture of pain and determination, “just to know that someone is not going to go through what I went through.” As the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence approaches, the global community is reminded that there is #NoExcuse for online abuse. The fight led by women like Ljubica Fuentes is not just about digital safety; it is about the fundamental right of every woman and girl to exist, speak, and lead in every space—whether that space is a university classroom or the vast, interconnected world of the internet.
