New technologies, new threats
Although anyone can experience gender-based violence, it disproportionately affects women and girls. Digital technologies can facilitate these harms through online harassment, threats sent through messaging apps, location-tracking software used for stalking, and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
AI adds another layer of harm.
Deepfakes, for instance, are synthetic images or videos that depict a person doing something they did not do. Perpetrators often use AI to generate non-consensual sexualized deepfakes, sometimes sharing them online to harass, extort, or silence women, especially those in positions of power, including politicians, activists, and journalists.
Such was the case on X, where a “trend” quickly escalated into mass abuse. From late December 2025 to early January 2026, users began commenting on women’s photos, prompting the platform’s generative chatbot known as “Grok” to undress them. Others generated more extreme images depicting women and girls in sexual positions or as victims of violence.
Generating and sharing non-consensual sexualized images is a form of image-based abuse. While this harm predates AI, generative tools can amplify it with unprecedented speed, scale, and accessibility—especially when they are integrated in online platforms with millions of users.
“If something does not exist in legislation, then the police do not have guidelines… If they do not have guidelines, they do not have training. So, in practice, the issue does not exist.”
(Pille Tsopp-Pagan)
Legal tools addressing synthetic image-based abuse
In Canada, distributing intimate images without consent is criminalized. However, according to a 2024 McGill Law Journal article by legal expert Suzie Dunn, a plain reading of this Criminal Code provision is unlikely to include synthetic images. Image-based abuse is also addressed under the Code’s child pornography provisions, which do include synthetic images.
Recognizing the harms posed by sexualized deepfakes, the federal government drafted the Protecting Victims Act, or Bill C-16, which would amend the Criminal Code to include synthetic images. It has not yet passed into law.
There are also remedies under civil, intellectual property, and human rights laws in Canada addressing synthetic image-based abuse, “allowing for complaints regarding extortion, defamation, privacy, or copyright,” according to the same article.
Estonia’s legal gaps
As an EU member state, Estonia is bound by several directives upholding gender equality. It has also ratified the Istanbul Convention.
Still, at a national level, there is little mention of violence against women in its Penal Code. The main reference appears in the Victim Support Act, which focuses on restorative justice. Otherwise, Estonia’s legislation is largely gender-neutral. As a result, it does not fully recognize that some forms of violence are rooted in patriarchal power dynamics and require targeted legal responses.
The Penal Code addresses forms of violence such as rape and assault, but it does not reflect the evolving threats posed by emerging technologies, including AI. Image-based abuse, whether synthetic or not, is not criminalized. The only available legal pathways are civil claims.
“There is no actual article on AI image abuse or technology-facilitated gender-based violence more generally in Estonian criminal law,” said Pille Tsopp-Pagan, a leading expert on cyberviolence and co-founder of Estonia’s first women’s shelter.
For victims of image-based abuse, the first point of contact is usually the police. Most of the time, Pille said, they are unable to help because there is no clear legislation addressing the issue. “If something does not exist in legislation, then the police do not have guidelines,” said Pille. “If they do not have guidelines, they do not have training. So, in practice, the issue does not exist.”
The lack of legal remedies for AI-facilitated abuse is especially concerning in a country where AI is becoming increasingly normalized. Young girls are now experiencing synthetic image abuse with few state-backed tools to support them.
“We have fifteen-year-old girls and their mothers coming to our centre saying, ‘My daughter is suicidal,’” said Pille. “Still, the police do not take their statements. For example, there might be an image of a girl circulating on social media, and the only response they get is, ‘Well, her face is not really visible, so just say it is not you.’ This happens even after they provide the social media links and the names of the boys sharing it. In my opinion, it is criminal that the police do not have any tools to respond.”
Pille said these problems persist in part because Estonia lacks clear legal definitions. “The first thing we need to do is agree on terminology,” she said. “Even when we look at gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, or domestic violence, officials are not all on the same page. What shelters and women’s centres feel and think may not be the same as what police officers or judges see. So first, we need to get everyone on the same page.”
She also emphasized the need to update Estonia’s Penal Code. “We need separate domestic violence legislation, like a Domestic Violence Act, but that has been rejected,” she said. “At minimum, we want to see amendments to the Penal Code that include all forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, whatever offence category they fall under. Even if it is treated as a misdemeanour and carries a very light punishment, I do not care. I just need it to exist in law so the police have something they can use.”
“… for politicians, part of the issue may be that many of them are relatively old, in their 50s, 60s, or 70s… They are looking at the fact that their electoral base is retired people and pensioners. So they do not care as much about young people.”
(Pille Tsopp-Pagan)
Estonia: as progressive as it claims?
With a population of just over 1.3 million, Estonia is one of the EU’s smallest countries. In Pille’s view, that should make it easier to move legislation forward quickly. Instead, she said, progress depends heavily on the issue. “It is a really strange situation,” she said. “I always have this cognitive dissonance. We are able to be efficient and progressive in some areas. Everyone has an ID card, we have a digital government. Yet our politicians are so slow to react to anything related to AI or new technologies in the context of gender-based violence.”
Pille said this contradiction has existed for a long time. “We are trying to present ourselves as a Nordic and progressive country, but when you look inside at how legislation actually works, or what cultural norms look like, it is very Eastern European,” she said. “This is baggage from Soviet times that we are still carrying.”
She also argued that Estonia’s lag on TFGBV protections reflects a gap between lawmakers and the people most affected by emerging forms of abuse. “I think, for politicians, part of the issue may be that many of them are relatively old, in their 50s, 60s, or 70s,” she said. “They do not really care or understand. They are looking at the fact that their electoral base is retired people and pensioners. So they do not care as much about young people.”
Pille recalled that it took roughly ten years of advocacy and lobbying from multiple groups for Estonia to adopt consent-based legislation. For advocates working on technology-facilitated abuse, the fear is that the legal system will once again move too slowly, while the harms facing women and girls accelerate.
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This article was written by Natalie Jenkins as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.
Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.
