APC report finds digital risks largely absent from global Women, Peace and Security action plans
A new APC report shows that most Women, Peace and Security (WPS) national action plans still do not address the rise of digital threats, including cybersecurity risks and technology-facilitated gender-based violence. The study identifies where current plans fall short and outlines how states, civil society and technology actors can close these gaps. Read more in the full publication.
The Association for Progressive Communications has published The Missing Link: Cybersecurity and Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, a study assessing how national and regional Women, Peace and Security action plans address emerging digital risks. The Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS) agenda, established through UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions, seeks to ensure that women participate fully in peace processes, are protected from violence, and have equal access to relief and recovery efforts. It also obliges states to prevent conflict-related harms, including those that disproportionately affect women and gender-diverse people. Although the agenda has evolved over the past twenty-five years, the report finds that most WPS action plans still do not account for the expanding digital environment in which conflict and security threats now occur.
According to the study, many action plans acknowledge digital issues only briefly or in general terms. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is often mentioned within the protection pillar, but its implications for participation, prevention, and relief and recovery are rarely addressed. The report notes that online harassment, targeted disinformation, cyberstalking, and other digital harms can directly restrict women’s political engagement, heighten security risks, and disrupt community-based peacebuilding. Yet these impacts are not systematically reflected in current WPS commitments.
The report also notes inconsistent terminology across national plans and limited alignment with cybersecurity, data protection, or digital rights frameworks. Only a small number of countries explicitly integrate digital safety into their WPS strategies. Even fewer link these efforts to national cybersecurity strategies or regional policy processes. Technology companies, despite their central role in moderating online spaces and shaping digital safety, are absent from all reviewed plans.
The study identifies several areas where the WPS agenda could evolve. These include expanding definitions of security to incorporate digital harms, strengthening cooperation between peacebuilding and digital-rights communities, improving monitoring and data collection on technology-facilitated abuse, and ensuring that marginalised groups – including women in conflict zones, Indigenous communities and gender-diverse people – are involved in policymaking. It also highlights opportunities for governments, civil society organisations and technology actors to coordinate responses and develop more robust digital protection mechanisms.
The publication concludes that addressing digital threats is now essential to fulfilling the core commitments of the WPS agenda.
