Youth Advocacy Poster Competition 2025 | Ending Digital VAWG

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The theme of the advocacy poster competition is UNiTE to End Digital Violence Against All Women and Girls. It is actually the theme chosen by UN Women for this year's global observance of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

The theme highlights the urgent need for collective action to combat the pervasive issue of digital violence targeting women and girls worldwide. Digital violence includes a range of harmful behaviors such as cyberbullying, harassment, threats, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, and online abuse, all of which can have devastating effects on victims' mental health, safety, and dignity. 

This theme calls upon individuals, communities, and organizations to come together—unite—in their efforts to raise awareness, advocate for stronger protections, and foster a safer digital environment for women and girls everywhere. The organisers encourage participants in this poster competition to interpret and represent this theme in their own unique way. 

Whether through powerful visual storytelling, symbolic imagery, or creative abstractions, your artwork can highlight the importance of solidarity, resilience, and the need for systemic change. There are no restrictions on how you choose to express this theme—your creativity and perspective are vital in amplifying the message and inspiring action. 

Remember, this competition is an opportunity for young artists to use their talents to make a meaningful impact in the fight against digital violence, and your artwork can be a catalyst for awareness and change.

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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is an act that results in, or is likely to result in, harm or suffering to women and girls, that is gender-based in nature. This includes physical violence; sexual violence such as rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, or sexual exploitation; psychological violence such as verbal abuse, intimidation, threats, or coercive control; economic violence such as denying access to resources, financial abuse, or restricting independence; and harmful traditional practices such as early and forced marriage.

This violence is a violation of the human rights of women and girls and is a major obstacle to achieving gender equality, development, and peace. It is rooted in gender inequality, discrimination, and social norms that condone or normalise violence against women and girls. We all must work together to prevent it, protect survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable.

Digital tools are increasingly being used to stalk, harass, and abuse women and girls. 

• This includes sending intimate or pornographic images without consent, or sharing intimate images or videos of someone without their consent, often as revenge porn or leaked nudes. 
• Then there is also cyberbullying, trolling, and online threats. 
• Then there is online harassment and sexual harassment. 
• Nowadays, women and girls are increasingly being made victims of AI-generated deepfakes such as fake nudes, deepfakes and pornography. 
• Hate speech and disinformation on social media platforms are other examples. 
• There's the practice of doxxing, which is when you publish someone's private information with malicious intent, often to hurt, shame, and make them less safe.
• Online stalking or surveillance is a form of digital violence, and so too is tracking someone to monitor someone’s activities. 
• Online grooming and sexual exploitation are forms of violence that occur when adults or older individuals manipulate or abuse children and young people through the internet. 
• Grooming is when an older person builds an emotional connection with a child or young person to gain their trust, to later exploit them, often by getting them to have sex, send inappropriate images, meet in person, or engage in other risky behaviours.
• Online sexual exploitation occurs when a child or young person is coerced, manipulated, or forced into sexual activities or sharing explicit images through online platforms.
• Catfishing, another form of digital abuse, is the act of creating a fake identity or persona online, usually through social media, dating sites, or messaging platforms, to deceive someone into building a false relationship.
• Impersonation is when someone pretends to be someone else by creating fake profiles, posting misleading content, using their photos, or hacking into their existing accounts.
• There are also online networks that are misogynistic. Through content and comments, users denigrate women, attack feminism, and promote gender stereotypes.

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When these acts happen online, they cause real harm emotionally and psychologically. They also often lead to physical harm offline, when they progress to coercion, physical abuse, sexual violence and even the killing of women and girls. As the space for interacting online grows and evolves with the development of internet technologies, we need to work to eliminate digital violence against women and girls. 

Digital violence targets women more than men, across all walks of life, but especially those with public or online visibility – such as activists, journalists, women in politics, human rights defenders, and young women. The impact is even worse for women facing intersecting forms of discrimination, including race, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign that takes place annually from November 25 (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to December 10 (Human Rights Day). The campaign aims to raise awareness, condemn violence against women and girls, and promote actions to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence worldwide. It involves advocacy, education, and community activities to highlight issues such as domestic violence, sexual harassment, and other forms of gender-based violence, encouraging governments, organisations, and individuals to take meaningful action.

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This competition is being organised by the Directorate of Gender Affairs (DoGA) in collaboration with the nonprofit organisation, Integrated Health Outreach Inc. (IHO). The Directorate of Gender Affairs is a government body responsible for promoting gender equality, women's empowerment, and addressing gender-related issues within the country, such as violence against women and girls. Integrated Health Outreach is a nonprofit dedicated to gender justice and climate justice, which is working with the DoGA on initiatives to address violence against women and girls.

• Age: Participants must be between 12 years old and 19 years old.
• Poster format: Participants may submit a poster in either physical or digital form, such as digital illustrations, or physical paintings or drawings, etc. 
• Poster size: Physical posters must be a minimum size of A3 (11.7 inches wide and 16.5 inches long) but may be larger. Digital submissions should be submitted via email as a high-resolution JEPG/JPG image.
• Originality: Posters must be original artworks created by participants. Plagiarism will result in disqualification. Use of artificial intelligence (AI) is also prohibited.
• Physical submissions: Physical artworks should be dropped off at the Directorate of Gender Affairs (DoGA) Office on Nevis Street in St. John's before the deadline. Be sure to write your name, contact number and a brief description of the artwork on a paper with the artwork. 
• Digital submissions: Digital artworks should be emailed to gender@ab.gov.ag before the deadline. Be sure to include your name, contact number and brief description of the artwork in the email.
• Deadline: The deadline for submission of posters is Tuesday, November 25, 2025, at 4:00 PM.

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If you have any questions about the competition, please send an email to Melanie Williams at the Directorate of Gender Affairs at 560-5207 or 462-3990.