It starts with a message. A new follower. A compliment. Someone who makes you feel seen and understood.
For 15-year-old Lynn, what begins as an ordinary online interaction gradually turns into manipulation, threats, and digital blackmail. Her story reflects the experiences of many girls and young women facing technology-facilitated gender-based violence, where harm begins online but its consequences extend far beyond the screen.
Through a digital awareness campaign implemented in partnership with UNFPA Lebanon, FEMALE brings these realities into focus, challenging victim-blaming and emphasizing that responsibility for violence always lies with the perpetrator, never the survivor.
View this post on Instagram
The campaign features eight short videos: four episodes following Lynn’s story and narrated by journalist Raneen Idris and four accompanying videos with psychologist and activist Wardé Bou Daher. Together, they explore body image, online grooming, digital blackmail, and AI-generated images, helping girls and young women recognize digital violence, understand their options, and identify available support.
The campaign also highlights FEMALE’s Helpline, 81 111456, which provides listening, guidance, psychosocial support, legal consultation, and referrals based on survivors’ needs.
View this post on Instagram
Beyond Awareness: Digital Safety Resources and Support
To encourage girls and young women to engage with digital safety, FEMALE also developed “Think You’re Digitally Safe?”, an interactive assessment featuring ten questions inspired by everyday online situations. The assessment encourages participants to reflect on their digital habits, recognize potential forms of online harm, and learn where to seek support.
Click here to take the digital safety assessment.
These efforts are complemented by FEMALE’s Digital Safety Hub, a dedicated online space bringing together educational materials, research, survivor stories, and advocacy initiatives addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
Click here to explore FEMALE’s Digital Safety Hub.
From Awareness to Legislative Action: FEMALE’s Advocacy Since 2020
This campaign builds on FEMALE’s longstanding efforts to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence in Lebanon.
Since launching Screens Do Not Protect in 2020, FEMALE has worked to raise awareness, support survivors, strengthen digital safety knowledge, and advocate for stronger legal protection. Over the years, these efforts have expanded through community awareness sessions, educational resources, research, legal consultations, and engagement with policymakers.
While awareness, education, and survivor support are essential, addressing digital violence also requires stronger legal protection and institutional accountability.
Building on this work, FEMALE has also prioritized legal reform, recognizing that awareness and individual safety measures alone cannot prevent digital violence.
Working alongside legal experts, FEMALE intiated and led the development of a comprehensive draft law addressing digital violence against women and girls, which was submitted to the Lebanese Parliament during February 2026.
The proposed legislation seeks to strengthen prevention, protection, and accountability by addressing forms of digital violence including online harassment, cyberstalking, electronic blackmail, and the non-consensual dissemination of intimate images. It also aims to improve reporting mechanisms, survivor-centered protection, and access to justice.
As digital technologies evolve and new forms of abuse emerge, including AI-generated intimate images, the need for comprehensive legal protection becomes increasingly important.
While blocking an abusive account, reporting harmful content, or strengthening privacy settings can help individuals respond to online abuse, these measures cannot replace effective laws and institutional accountability.
Through its advocacy message #TheLegalBlock (#البلوك_القانوني), FEMALE continues to emphasize that digital safety cannot depend solely on individual precautions.
FEMALE calls on the Lebanese Parliament to adopt the proposed law and strengthen the legal and institutional protections needed to prevent technology-facilitated gender-based violence, support survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable.
Women and girls deserve to participate in digital spaces without fear. And when violence occurs, they deserve protection, support, and access to justice.
The only block we can truly count on is the legal block.
