On March 20, 2026, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine hosted an online training session titled TFGBV — Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: How to Respond and Prevent It.
Photo credit: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
The event was organized by Women in Media as part of a communications platform for dialogue between law enforcement agencies and representatives of human rights organizations and civil society institutions, with the support of Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Kateryna Pavlichenko participated in the training.
“The communications platform is part of implementing the National Strategy for Civil Society Development in Ukraine for 2021–2026. It is important that this cooperation is cross-institutional in nature, involving the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Security Service of Ukraine, and 11 civil society institutions. Among our systemic partners is Women in Media, which is the initiator and co-organizer of today’s training,” said Kateryna Pavlichenko.
The online training became the pilot educational event within the communications platform, while also continuing the working group format about investigating and preventing cybercrimes against journalists and civil activists — a format launched in December of last year.
In particular, with the assistance of the Cyber Police Department, informational materials prepared by Women in Media together with international partners were published on the online platform of the Cyber Brama project. These materials are designed to raise awareness about cybercrimes and response mechanisms.
“This experience shows that effective cooperation between the state and civil society is possible and delivers concrete results. That is why we are interested in continuing and expanding it, especially in the context of today’s training. We are talking about a phenomenon that has become a global challenge: online violence is not ‘virtual’ — it has very real, and often dangerous, consequences for people’s safety, mental health, and professional lives,” Kateryna Pavlichenko stressed.
Photo credit: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
Pauline Maufré, Ukraine Program Manager at Reporters Without Borders — the international organization that partnered in developing the training curriculum — highlighted the importance of shared international attention to the issue of online safety for women journalists. She thanked Ukrainian partners and authorities, including the Cyber Police Department of the National Police, for their readiness to respond to such challenges.
During the training, Liza Kuzmenko, head of the Women in Media, explained the concept of TFGBV (Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence), outlined the main types of such offenses, their consequences, and presented statistics specifically relating to women journalists.
Media lawyer Maksym Dvorovyi of Digital Security Lab presented approaches to combating online violence against women journalists, including within the context of international law, European Union proposals, and Ukrainian legislation.
Oleksandra Horchynska, Projects Coordinator at Women in Media, presented the organization’s virtual Map of Online Attacks Against Women Journalists, developed in line with European standards.
Nearly 50 participants joined the pilot training — representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Security Service of Ukraine.
Based on the results of the event and an analysis of participant feedback, organizers plan to explore the possibility of continuing the training program within the communications platform, as well as expanding it to a broader audience of law enforcement officers.