Panel discussion on AI and gender-based violence: protecting dignity in digital spaces

Cambodia’s National AI Strategy (2025-2030) addresses Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) indirectly but fundamentally by setting Ethical and Responsible AI as a core priority. This commitment, informed by the UNESCO AI Readiness Assessment, requires the Strategy to focus on data protection, digital literacy, and inclusive development. It’s important because by promoting ethical governance and establishing strong cybersecurity laws, the strategy creates the necessary legal and technical safeguards to mitigate the online harassment, discrimination, and non-consensual image sharing that constitute TFGBV, thereby ensuring women’s safety and full participation in Cambodia’s digital future.

Moderated by Dr. Marc Piñol Rovira, Assistant Professor in the American University of Phnom Penh, a high-level panel featuring His Excellency The Chhun Hak, General Director of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Ms. Mao Map, Executive Director of Klahaan Organization, and Ms. Munny Rochom, Executive Committee of the Network of Indigenous Women in Asia, addressed the escalating challenge of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) and the imperative to safeguard women’s dignity online.

The discussion established early on that a significant obstacle to coordinated action is the current lack of a universal consensus on the definition of TFGBV. Ms. Mao Map recognized that definitional ambiguity is further compounded by the dangerous normalization of TFGBV within the general public, where biased or harmful comments on the internet are frequently dismissed or minimized as simple jokes or harmless banter, thereby undermining the severity of the issue.

The personal perspective of Ms. Munny Rochom, speaking from the Jarai community, offered crucial insight into the barriers faced by marginalized groups. She powerfully argued that language itself is one of the gravest obstacles preventing people in Indigenous communities from effectively identifying and fighting against TFGBV content in the digital realm. Her message served as a vital reminder that TFGBV impacts women and girls unequally. Consequently, any assessment of its impacts and the development of solutions must be intersectional, rigorously accounting for diverse factors such as different religious beliefs, varied social backgrounds, and socio-economic statuses. This intersectional understanding is non-negotiable for creating truly equitable protection mechanisms.

This call for action led to a direct query posed to His Excellency Chhun Hak regarding governmental preparedness: How are relevant ministries learning digital skills, and how are they addressing TFGBV? The underlying theme of this question was the urgent need for civil servants to embrace open-mindedness and proactively acquire the digital and ethical skills relevant to governing a rapidly evolving technological landscape. Without a receptive and digitally literate public sector, effective policy responses to issues like TFGBV will lag dangerously behind technological development.

A recurring principle throughout the discussion was the absolute necessity of collaboration and experience sharing. Fighting a complex, transnational problem like TFGBV cannot be achieved in isolation. Government agencies, civil society organizations, community leaders, and technologists must actively share data, best practices, and community-level experiences to build comprehensive and context-specific defensive strategies. This collaboration is vital for transitioning from abstract policy discussions to practical, on-the-ground interventions.

The panel acknowledged the paradox of technology itself. While it has undeniably facilitated and magnified TFGBV, it also holds the key to its solution. Technology, although a conduit for TFGBV, is simultaneously a powerful way for us to identify and combat it. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning algorithms can be developed to detect harmful content patterns, flag instances of digital abuse, and even assist in moderation efforts more efficiently than human teams alone. The potential for AI development for good was highlighted, pointing out that applications could be created to limit environmental impacts like deforestation and climate change, illustrating that AI has a positive, ethical application space.

The panel ultimately concluded that the fight against TFGBV hinges on definition and public engagement. Defining TFGBV with clarity matters because it forms the legal and ethical basis for intervention. It is imperative to conduct extensive awareness raising to alert the public that TFGBV is not a siloed issue for women and girls, but a central social issue for all Cambodians that threatens national digital well-being.

Furthermore, the existing educational gap between genders must be systemically addressed to ensure equal digital literacy. The session’s final synthesis stressed the paramount importance of truly understanding the varied and deep impacts of TFGBV and committing to co-creation for developing solutions, such as an application that can alert users to TFGBV and offers different language settings to ensure genuinely inclusive participation. This holistic approach, combining governmental readiness, cross-sectoral collaboration, and ethical technology development, is necessary to protect women’s digital dignity.