About the WOW Project

A European Examination of Digitalised Violence Against Women

Women’s Online Wellbeing (WOW) is a three-year European research project exploring how digital technologies are reshaping violence against women. We examine experiences such as online harassment, image-based abuse, deepfakes, cyberstalking and impersonation, and how they affect women’s wellbeing, safety and access to support across Europe.

What is Digitalised Violence Against Women (DVAW)?

Digitalised Violence Against Women refers to any form of violence, abuse or harm that is carried out, facilitated or amplified through digital technologies. This includes behaviours such as online harassment, stalking, threats, hacking, impersonation, monitoring or surveillance, and technology-facilitated coercion or control.

What is Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA)?

IBSA involves the taking, sharing, creating or threatening to share intimate images without consent. It includes non-consensual image sharing, coerced image-taking, “revenge porn,” deepfakes, upskirting and sexual extortion.

If you have been affected by these issues or have concerns or questions about online abuse, please visit our Help & Support Directory Pages for information, guidance and organisations that can assist you.

If you’d like to learn more about our research or explore ways to get involved, please visit our Contact Page or email the team at WomensOnlineWellbeing@outlook.com

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Contact the WOW Team

Our Aim

The WOW Project aims to build the first cross-European understanding of how digitalised violence impacts women’s wellbeing, which groups are most affected, and what support survivors need from services, communities and the criminal justice system.

Our Key Research Questions

1. How common is digitalised violence against women across Europe?
2. How does online abuse affect women’s wellbeing, mental health and safety?
3. How do experiences differ across groups and countries?
4. What responses do survivors receive from support services and police?
5. What changes are needed to improve support and safety?

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What We’re Studying?

Systematic Review

We map existing research, policies and legislation on digitalised violence across Europe.
Europe-Wide Survey (5,000+ women)

We examine the prevalence, impact and support experiences of women in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Spain and Poland.
Lived Experiences of Specific Groups

We conduct in-depth interviews with LGBTQIA+ people, Black and minority ethnic women and young women to understand their unique experiences.
Support Services & Policing

We explore how victim support organisations and police respond to digital abuse, and what survivors need from these systems.

Why This Work Matters

Digitalised violence against women is growing rapidly and affects women’s health, safety, relationships and ability to participate online. Despite its scale, evidence across Europe is limited. WOW aims to close this gap by providing clear data, lived experience insights and practical recommendations that can support policymakers, practitioners, educators and communities.

Our Consortium Partners

Women’s Online Wellbeing (WOW) is an international research project funded through the CHANSE–NORFACE transnational funding programme.

The project is supported by CHANSE (Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe) and NORFACE (New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe), which bring together national research funding organisations to support high-quality, collaborative social science and humanities research across Europe.

National funding is provided by participating countries’ research councils. In the UK, the project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and is led by Northumbria University. Partner institutions in Sweden, Spain, Poland and Ireland receive funding through their respective national funding bodies under the same CHANSE–NORFACE framework.

This funding enables the first Europe-wide study of women’s experiences of digitalised violence, combining large-scale survey research with in-depth qualitative work and close collaboration with victim support organisations, practitioners and policy stakeholders.