Resident Coordinator's speech: IDEVAW 2025

Yang Berhormat Ms. Teo Nie Ching, Deputy Minister of Communications,

Esteemed partners from the Ministry of Communications and UNFPA,

Distinguished policymakers, academics, activists, colleagues from civil society and the media,

Good evening and thank you for joining us as we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Let me begin with the words of the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, through his 2025 IDEVAW message:

“Violence against women and girls is a global scourge. And in our digital age, it is being amplified by the reach and speed of technology. We cannot allow digital spaces to be yet another place where women and girls are unsafe.”

Tonight, as we gather beneath the KL Tower, soon to be lit in orange…

WE stand UNITED in that conviction.

This year’s theme, “UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls,” highlights one of the most urgent frontiers of gender-based violence. 

As technology becomes more advanced and embedded in every part of our lives, the threats facing women and girls multiply. 

The boundaries between our digital and physical worlds have all but disappeared, and with them, the false comfort that online harm is somehow less real.

Digital violence or tech-facilitated gender-based violence is now one of the fastest-growing forms of abuse globally. 

It exists on a continuum with physical violence: the harassment a girl experiences in her school corridor can be mirrored, magnified, and manipulated online through: 

• cyberstalking
• unauthorized surveillance
• doxxing
• or the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

And with advances in artificial intelligence, we are witnessing a terrifying escalation.

Recent analyses show that 90–95% of all deepfakes online are non-consensual pornographic content and around 90% of these depict women.

These digital violations are not virtual. 

They have devastating, real-world consequences: trauma, social isolation, reputational harm, and for some, tragically, even femicide or suicide.

We are not immune here in Malaysia.

Just last month, we witnessed the horrific gang rape of a young student, recorded and shared online. 

Days later, another school reported a femicide by stabbing. 

And we still mourn the young Malaysian influencer who died by suicide after enduring relentless cyberbullying and misogynistic abuse.

Each of these stories is a life diminished or lost because our societies continue to tolerate violence against women and girls, in one form or another.

At the root of this crisis lie discriminatory social norms, persistent, misogynistic beliefs that regard women and girls as lesser, weaker, or undeserving. 

These beliefs, once whispered in private, are now amplified by algorithms and echo across digital platforms, pushing hateful content from the margins into the mainstream.

Esteemed guests,

Every woman and every girl have the right to be safe in her home, in her community, in her workplace, and equally in the digital spaces that shape her daily life. Safety is not a privilege; it is a fundamental human right.

Violence steals women’s voices. 

It limits their public leadership. 

It narrows their possibilities. 

And when half the world is silent, the whole world suffers.

From climate action to conflict resolution, from peacebuilding to pandemic response, our global challenges demand women’s full participation.

To create a future where women and girls can thrive, we must reject violence in all its forms - unconditionally, unequivocally, and collectively.

This is why the 2025 UNiTE Campaign, anchored in the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, calls for urgent action across seven priorities:

1. Criminalise and prohibit all forms of digital VAWG and strengthen law enforcement capacity.
2. Strengthen accountability and transparency of technology companies to end digital VAWG.
3. Strengthening responses to victim-survivors through specialized support and access to justice.
4. Strengthen protection for women in public life to ensure their right to freely express themselves.
5. Enhance digital resilience and literacy for women and girls.
6. Invest in innovative solutions to transform harmful masculinities and counter the manosphere; and
7. Support women’s rights organizations and movements through sustained, core funding.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, still the most visionary blueprint for gender equality ever agreed by the international community. 

In the decades, the world has made progress. 

But gender inequality remains deeply rooted in our systems, and violence continues to shadow the lives of far too many.

Still, we must move forward. 

And as technology evolves, so too must our resolve, our protections, and our collective innovation must evolve even faster - so that digital violence finds no place to grow.

Tonight, when the KL Tower illuminates in orange, let it shine as more than a symbol of solidarity.

Let it stand as a beacon of our shared determination, an unmistakable reminder that incremental change is no longer enough.

And let us, as leaders in policy, technology, academia, media, and civil society, recognize that we hold the tools, the platforms, and the responsibility to shape a digital future where fear has no place.

A future where Malaysian women and girls can express themselves freely, participate fully, and walk confidently online and offline, knowing that their safety is non-negotiable.

Let us leave this evening not only inspired, but mobilized.

Let us commit, through our policies, our institutions, and our daily choices to building a Malaysia, and a world…

….where every woman and girl can live without fear, 

where her voice, 

her dignity, and her potential..

..are fully realized.

Terima kasih. Thank you.