The European and national legal frameworks for combating the digital dimension of gender-based violence

Abstract

The development of technology and the Internet has made virtual space a place for the exchange of various information and data. In addition to benefits it provides to users, there are unwanted side effects, including digital violence. The main problem is the establishment of a legal framework for the fight against digital violence directed against individuals or groups, because there are no temporal or geographical boundaries in virtual space, which makes it difficult to define national jurisdictions, as well as a great number of types of this violence. The subject of the research in this paper is the prevention of gender-based digital violence due to the importance and impact it has on society, and also the fact that violence which begins as digital one often culminates in physical violence and leads to serious injuries or death of persons affected by it. Successful combating this type of violence requires the cooperation of various actors in order to show that violence against women and girls is not acceptable. The Council of Europe and the bodies of the European Union simultaneously fight against digital violence in Europe by adopting various documents that are mandatory for member states. The Republic of Serbia harmonises its legislation with European acts. The method of content analysis and historical method have been used in writing this paper, and the objective has been to answer the following question: which international documents prohibit digital violence and what mechanisms are available to state authorities to fight against it. It has been concluded that it is necessary to ensure the implementation of adopted documents and the cooperation of state authorities and bodies with companies that are the owners of the platforms and applications used for conducting violence, as well as the constant improvement of the services and officers who fight against this type of violence.