Digital technologies have transformed social, economic, and political participation across the Western Balkans, but they have also created new and expanding avenues for harm. Technology‑Facilitated Gender‑Based Violence (TFGBV), including harassment, threats, stalking, and the non‑consensual sharing of intimate images, has emerged as a persistent and deeply gendered form of abuse that disproportionately affects women and girls, as well as those active in public and online spaces. The cross‑border and platform‑driven nature of NCII abuse presents significant challenges for national legal systems, victim support services, and institutional coordination.
This Landscape Report assesses regional readiness to prevent and respond to TFGBV, with a specific focus on NCII abuse, across the Western Balkans Six: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Prepared by South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the report draws on desk research, legal and policy analysis, stakeholder consultations, and survivor‑informed insights to examine legal frameworks, institutional coordination, victim support pathways, platform engagement, prevention efforts, and data systems.
The purpose of the report is to provide a practical foundation for policy development, targeted investment, and regional cooperation, supporting the transition from fragmented responses towards coordinated, survivor‑centred systems capable of addressing NCII abuse and broader forms of technology‑facilitated violence.