Attendees at the Gender-Based Violence and Online Harms Symposium
The Royal Society in London was founded in 1660, and is the world’s oldest continuously existing scientific establishment. 365 years later, guests from around the world gathered in its beautiful Wolfson Rooms to explore a very contemporary set of issues under the stern eyes of statues and oil paintings. Trilateral Research arranged the Gender-Based Violence and Online Harms Symposium on the 12th September 2025 as a showcase for the CCINDLE project, with a diverse lineup of speakers to illustrate the complexities and promise of gender-based violence (GBV) research. I organised the Symposium and then, less than two weeks later, disappeared on parental leave and left this blog unfinished. As we ease into 2026, I’m happy to report on what was an invigorating event and this blog summarises some of its key throughlines, themes, and discussion. For more detail, you can see a partial set of speaker slides here.
The Royal Society is in the centre of historic London, and guests joined from around the world. I started by introducing the context of Trilateral Research and the Horizon Europe-funded CCINDLE project that had brought the Symposium together. Trilateral has worked with hundreds of partners on European research projects like CCINDLE, in addition to producing responsible, prosocial artificial intelligence (AI) products like the Trilateral GRC Suite for AI governance or CESIUM child safety tool. Within CCINDLE, Trilateral drives public engagement and impact, producing materials such as its videos, podcasts, and newsletters. The Gender-Based Violence and Online Harms Symposium allowed us to draw from our interdisciplinary expertise and spotlight a number of expert colleagues.
The Speakers
First up was Dr Silvia Diaz Fernandez, CCINDLE partner and a Postdoctoral Researcher from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid; now at the Institute of Public Goods and Policies. Silvia discussed digital political violence and the far-right and ‘manosphere’ sentiment that blends anti-democratic and anti-gender themes, illustrating this with an overview of Spanish parliamentary trends. She highlighted the example of Alvise Pérez, a Spanish online activist who converted a digital following into election as a Member of the European Parliament through brash outsider positioning that included nationalist and anti-feminist themes. Perez sidestepped orthodox campaign structures and events, relying on direct social media engagement with supporters and widespread disaffection with ‘mainstream’ institutions. CCINDLE’s focus on knowledge production is a response to how such actors dismiss feminists and other progressive movements as ideologues or bad actors, while cloaking their own rhetoric under the guises of objectivity or common sense.
Dr Hayley Watson, former Director of Innovation and Research at Trilateral Research, took to the podium to explore AI and its implications for online safety; particularly for children. With children of eight to fourteen years old spending an average of almost three hours online each day, more than half using YouTube and Snapchat, and 79% of teenagers using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, a world in which AI increases vulnerability is here and parents may be unsure of what to do. Hayley recommended the UK Children’s Commissioner’s report on children’s experiences of the online world, and it makes for sobering reading. Accuracy and trust are concerns, but the potential for AI technology to improve aspects of education should not be overlooked. Hayley cited Trilateral’s ongoing GenAI4ED project, which has identified a mixture of caution and optimism from the teachers and students exploring AI applications. More broadly, movements like Smartphone Free Childhood work to mobilise society and empower families; with pacts at a local/school level offering a route by which the public can take control over what can be a daunting area of harmful content, misinformation, and abuse. Careful governance, wider literacy, and responsible innovation from technologists are the three pillars for averting the worst risks of AI, and harnessing its benefits for vulnerable populations and society in general. Attendees noted a sense of disenfranchisement as tech companies flex their power over the public square, with improved AI awareness an essential response.
Our next speakers also focused on the digital landscape. Dr Alba Morales Tirado, from the Open University’s Centre for Protecting Women Online, provided an academic perspective on the growing prevalence and complexity of online harms; particularly those targeting women. These pose significant psychological, social, legal, and technical hazards for their victims, and the dynamics constantly shift as image-based, coordinated, or deepfake incidents (for example) emerge and evolve. Alba argued that responses to online harms are stymied by a lack of consensus on the definitions of online harms, such as in the grey areas around harmful but legal content. Alba’s gender-aware ‘ontology’ (or structure of understanding around a concept) for online harm can be seen in the slides linked in this piece, but involves connections between an act, the agents, legislative frameworks, and the impacts of an incident. Co-creation, or the collaboration of perspectives such as lawyers, psychologists, and law enforcement, informed Alba’s model. This echoes the emphasis on co-creation embedded in the CCINDLE project.
Giles Herdale followed Alba, and reflected in part on his work with the Centre for Protecting Online. Giles is an independent expert on technology and crime investigation as well as the Director of Herdale Digital Consulting Ltd, and lent a practical perspective on how technology-facilitated violence against women and girls (VAWG) operates and how it might be more effectively countered. He noted the landscape review created in collaboration with the Centre, a comprehensive analysis of how technology is reshaping GBV, how the police are responding, and the gaps and good practices from which lessons can be learnt. The policing response to VAWG is under massive scrutiny in the UK, with Sarah Everard’s murder by a police officer and the subsequent investigative failings casting a long shadow. Giles detailed the prevalence of tech-facilitated GBV, citing Refuge’s report that tech is an integral part of contemporary domestic violence and coercive control. As offences proliferate into AI, the metaverse, and an array of image-based harms, a lack of police understanding and coordination is a problem. Agencies are often under-resourced, with digital expertise siloed away from frontline public protection teams and guidance for victims lagging behind the pace of technology. Greater training and increased reporting routes from platforms to police can help, with tech companies and civil society organisations having crucial parts to play. Giles flagged up good examples of creative law enforcement initiatives, such as Operation Soteria, and offered a number of recommendations for agencies as they work to refocus and harmonise their responses to tech-facilitated GBV.
After lunch and conversation and plentiful perusal of the Royal Society’s library, the speaker presentations wrapped up with two Trilateral Research colleagues. Dr Agata Gurzawska reported on the recently concluded VERITY project and its analysis of gender-based violence in scientific settings. VERITY was dedicated to understanding and enhancing trust in science, and Agata explored its gendered dynamics; starting with how students are pushed in certain directions from the earliest stages of their education. While trust in scientists remains high, COVID-19 brought ill-informed scientific debate crashing into the mainstream. The digital harassment of experts skyrocketed, with some evidence that female scientists bore a particular brunt. These attacks led to worrying effects, with female researchers who opined in public harassed online and sometimes driven from vital public debates. An Ipsos/L’Oréal Foundation survey found that 81% of women scientists have personally experienced sexism in their careers, with the UniSAFE project finding that 62% of university respondents had experienced a form of GBV during their careers; ranging from sexual harassment to workplace bullying, verbal abuse, and hostile environments. Yet evidence shows that female scientists are perceived as more likable and competent in some communication scenarios, demonstrating the value of their voices for enhancing trust in science. VERITY participants discussed how they adapted their manner to maintain credibility (by over-preparing, or emphasising warmth) or resisted by consciously challenging stereotypes (such as by altering their clothing or behaviour). Agata noted some conclusions from the project, which advocated a combination of accountability, monitoring, training, online and in-person safety measures, greater representation of marginalised groups, and mentorship to reduce the risks of GBV for female scientists. You can read VERITY’s recommendations for fostering trust in science here.
Agata was reflecting on VERITY in its immediate aftermath. Her Trilateral Research colleague Dr Orla Drummond offered a complementary perspective from the SALVUS project, which is in the earliest stages of its mission to enhance the investigation of online child sexual abuse (CSA). SALVUS focuses on the obstacles to prosecution in these cases, and aims to produce guidance, training, and policy recommendations to ameliorate these barriers. Online CSA cases frequently cross borders, but the clarity and disparities in laws and procedures stifle international collaboration and evidence sharing. Countries differ, for example, on what constitutes admissible evidence, how this can be authenticated, and how to grapple with emerging technologies. Undercover investigations are of particular interest to SALVUS, with fundamental freedoms at stake such as the privacy rights of victims (and suspects). Partners will map the regulatory landscape, explore the current practices of law enforcement, forensic professionals and others, and ultimately create guidance to harmonise European law and create uniform practices for the collection of evidence in online CSA cases; while protecting fundamental freedoms. The ambitions and opportunities of SALVUS stretch ahead, offering a suitable grace note as the Gender-Based Violence and Online Harms Symposium wrapped up its keynote speakers and opened up for an audience Q&A.
The Roundtable
We took audience questions throughout the day, but time during the presentations was limited and so the last slot of the day was dedicated to exploring the issues on the minds of our audience and given panellists the chance to comment on each other’s areas of expertise. While Hayley was unable to join, Silvia, Alba, Giles, Agata, and Orla were all available for the roundtable. As moderator, I had planned a few questions but this turned out to be largely unnecessary. Audience questions came thick and fast, covering the technicalities of AI, queries about particular points or statistics, and big questions on how social media can be made safer or why people mistrust scientists to begin with. What interested me most was the commonalities between our speakers, who came from diverse backgrounds in academia, industry, or the nitty-gritty of technical investigations. They agreed on the power of tech companies, and the sense of anxiety and powerlessness from the public as new generations wade into the digital quagmire. Thoughts on the UK’s controversial Online Safety Act, a pioneering but imperfect attempt to assert government oversight, were mixed but the panel and the crowd agreed that regulation was a crucial part of the puzzle moving forward. In the end, tackling GBV and online harms require societal solutions, more than technical or policing ones, as they reflect broader undercurrents than just the enabling mechanisms of new technology. Individually, we can all take responsibility for our education on GBV, AI, and online harms, take initiative within our own communities and households, and model responsible engagement with the online world. We do have agency, and change is always possible.
Conclusion
The Gender-Based Violence and Online Harms Symposium gathered speakers and guests from across disciplines and the globe to explore some of the most pressing, daunting challenges of our time in a venue steeped in history. We are grateful to everyone who brought their expertise and energy to London. The commonalities were striking, and the passion and engagement of the audience was infectious. Remember, you can check out an edited slide deck from the Symposium here.
Author: Alex Murphy, Trilateral Research. 5th March 2026