Dede Leni Mardianti, Jakarta – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Indonesia has raised concern over the scale of gender-based online violence faced by women as the country undergoes rapid digital expansion, accompanied by a sharp rise in technology-enabled abuse.
Syamsul Tarigan, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Analyst at UNDP, said cases of digital violence against women in Indonesia reached 330,000 this year, a 14 percent increase from 2024.
He delivered the remarks during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence event at the UN office in Jakarta on Thursday, November 20, 2025.
He explained that digital violence manifests in multiple forms, including cyberbullying, stalking, image-based abuse, and the misuse of personal photographs, often altered with deepfake or AI-generated techniques.
Deepfake and AI-generated technologies, Syamsul noted, use artificial intelligence to manipulate images, audio, and video with increasing sophistication. Globally, the production of such synthetic content has surged. In 2023, around 15,000 deepfake files were detected; this year, the number is projected to reach 8 million.
Indonesia has experienced similar growth. Over the past five years, the production of deepfake content has risen by 55 percent, nearly doubling annually.
Women remain the primary targets of these attacks, particularly those aged 15-24. Professionally, female journalists are among the most vulnerable groups, with 85.7 percent reporting exposure to at least one form of digital violence.
Syamsul emphasized that these incidents should not be dismissed simply because they occur online. "They cause psychological trauma, reputational harm, financial losses, and often escalate into offline violence," he said.