Cyber Violence against Women and Girls in the Western Balkans: Selected Case Studies and a Cybersecurity Governance Approach

This publication focuses on the Western Balkan region and seeks to portray this important issue through vivid case studies from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. While each case study is unique, the stories of the women portrayed in them are symbolic of the struggles many women around the world face on a daily basis.

The introduction presents the issue of cyber violence from the perspective of cybersecurity governance, thereby giving weight to the principles of good SSG in their application to cybersecurity.

Each of the three country-case studies portrays the story of the subject and the applicable national legal and governance frameworks, following which an analysis of best practices and gaps in the applicable legal and governance frameworks is provided and specific recommendations applicable to each of the three country scenarios are given.

The conclusion summarises key findings and trends from the three case studies, presents concrete steps in addressing cyber VAWG through principles of good governance and gender mainstreaming, and ends on a brief discussion of areas of gender and cybersecurity requiring further research.