The digitalisation of sexual harassment: Why laws alone aren’t enough

How sexual harassment has moved online

For previous generations, sexual harassment was largely confined to physical spaces: the street, the school corridor, the workplace, the nightclub. These were the sites where power was exercised, boundaries were crossed, and women learned to modify their behaviour. But in the 21st century, the way perpetrators harass has evolved and expanded to take place on digital platforms.

AI, Deepfakes and the rise of digital sexual abuse

New technologies and online platforms have opened up huge, mostly unregulated spaces that are quickly taken advantage of by those who commit sexual violence. Nearly every week brings news about a new digital tool being used to abuse, violate, or harass women and girls. From apps that claim to undress women in photos to AI-generated pornography, technology is being turned against women at a rapid pace.

Recent legal changes that make it illegal to create or share fake intimate images or videos of someone without their consent are an important and needed step. These changes have brought discussions about digital sexual violence, policy, and prevention into the spotlight. Still, there is a big question: can policymakers act quickly enough to protect women as the digital world continues to change?

In 2025, about 8 million deepfake images were shared online, a huge jump from half a million the year before. This sharp increase shows how quickly harm can spread before laws and regulations are in place. For example, Grok AI became well-known after reports showed it was used to create about 3 million sexualized images in just 11 days. As more women and girls become victims of intimate image-based abuse and deepfakes, it is clear that we need increased awareness and prevention.

Digital abuse is a continuation of sexual harassment

At Our Streets Now, we understand sexual harassment as part of a pattern of harm based on power and control, not just as single events. Digital abuse is not different from street harassment; it is a continuation of it. When women are targeted online, they are pushed out of public conversations, activism, and daily life, just as street harassment pushes them out of public places.

Laws are important, but they are not enough on their own. Legal changes often happen after harm has already been done, which means survivors have to report, relive, and prove their abuse. At the same time, tech companies create new tools faster than safety measures can be put in place. We need prevention, education, and cultural change, along with criminal laws.

Why prevention and education matter

This gap becomes especially clear when we consider young people. How can parents, carers, and teachers teach children about digital consent, AI, and image-based abuse, when most adults are not familiar with these technologies? Too often, the responsibility falls on individuals rather than on the systems that allow harm to occur.

Our Streets Now has always supported education as a crucial way to prevent public sexual harassment. Young people should not only be protected from harm, but also given the knowledge to spot abuse, stand up to it, and ask for better from the platforms they use every day. To tackle online abuse, we need strong laws, better tech oversight, platform responsibility, and thorough education. By campaigning and educating, Our Streets Now keeps pushing for a world where women and girls do not face sexual harassment in any public spaces.