Session Details

Artificial Intelligence and Gender-Based Technology-Facilitated Abuse: Harms, Limits, and Possibilities

Speaker: Dr. Nicola Henry, Professor of Global Studies and Deputy Director of the Social Equity Research Centre at RMIT University, Australia 

Session Description: Rapid advancements in digital technologies have contributed to new and evolving manifestations of gender-based violence. This includes a range of behaviors such as cyberstalking, image-based sexual abuse, digital dating abuse, online sexual harassment, and sexualized threats. Among these developments, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as both a new facilitator of harm and a proposed site of intervention. AI-enabled tools have intensified existing forms of abuse, including AI-generated image-based sexual abuse and sextortion, while also being promoted as solutions through detection systems, automated moderation, and survivor-support tools.

Drawing on international empirical research, policy analysis, and the development of survivor-centred digital tools, this keynote critically examines the dual role of AI in the GBV landscape. Using a design justice framework, the session explores whose harms are made visible, whose voices shape technological responses, and what ethical, effective, and trauma-informed AI interventions might look like in practice.

Learning objectives:

  1. Gain a clearer understanding of how AI is being used to facilitate emerging forms of gender-based technology-facilitated abuse, including AI-generated image-based sexual abuse.
  2. Understand key tensions in the use of AI as both a source of harm and a proposed solution in GBV prevention and response.
  3. Be introduced to the concept of "design justice" as a useful lens for thinking about ethical, survivor-centred digital interventions.

Using AI Safely in Survivor Advocacy

Speaker: Rhiannon Wong, Project Manager of the Technology Safety Canada initiative with the BC Society of Transition Houses and Women’s Shelters Canada 

Session Description: This session looks at how technology, including emerging AI tools, can affect safety, privacy, and confidentiality in the context of intimate partner violence. Using established tech safety and anti-violence principles, the presentation explores how digital tools may be helpful in some situations, while also creating new risks for survivors.

Participants will consider practical AI examples relevant to shelter and frontline work and learn how to approach these tools thoughtfully and responsibly. The session focuses on ethical use, legal responsibilities, and clear boundaries to support survivor safety and maintain trust in anti-violence services.

AI in Gender-Based Violence Programming: Perils and Potentials

Speaker: Caroline Masboungi, UNICEF, Global GBViE Technology and Innovation 

Session Description: This session explores how Artificial Intelligence can be leveraged to enhance Gender-Based Violence programming. Through participatory, scenario-based discussions, participants will examine AI's opportunities and risks, and explore survivor-centered design principles.

Learning objectives:

  1. Deepen understanding of AI's potential, limitations, and risks in GBV and humanitarian programming, with actionable insights for ethical, survivor-centered integration.
  2. Engage in scenario-based discussions and collaborative problem-solving to critically examine AI use cases and co-design ethical solutions with cross-sectoral relevance.
  3. Gain practical tools for risk management and decision-making applicable across the humanitarian sector.

Please note additional speakers and session details will be added soon. Please check back for updates.