Centre for Protecting Women Online Concludes Inaugural Annual Conference at The Open University

Posted on 17 September 2025 • Business and law, Law

The Centre for Protecting Women Online (CPWO) has successfully concluded its first annual conference, held on 10–11 September 2025 at The Open University in Milton Keynes. The two-day event brought together global experts, academics, practitioners, advocates, and partners to share insights and strategies for tackling online violence against women and girls (OVAWG).

The conference opened with a powerful keynote address by Dr. María Rún Bjarnadóttir, Head of Legal at the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, titled “Did it work? Criminal and policy reform against digital forms of sexual abuse in Iceland 2021–2025 reviewed.” Dr. Bjarnadóttir’s keynote set the tone for the event, offering a critical examination of reform measures and their impact on combating digital sexual abuse.

Over the course of the conference, participants engaged in a wide range of sessions spanning several key themes:

• Image-based sexual abuse
• Law, enforcement, and policy
• Victim-centric and trauma-informed approaches
• Intersectionality
• Education, digital literacy, and advocacy
• Prevention
• Moderation and reactive solutions

A highlight of the programme was the screening of “My Sextortion Diary”, a deeply personal documentary by filmmaker Patricia Franquesa, chronicling her experiences following the theft of her laptop in Madrid, the devastating consequences that followed, and her actions to fight back against the abuse.

The conference also featured a dedicated partner session, where Deloitte and Lawyers for Justice in Libya presented their collaborative projects and shared progress achieved in partnership with the Centre over the past year.

The closing panel, themed “Looking forward to a future without online violence against women and girls,” was chaired by ElsaMarie D’Silva, Founder and CEO of Red Dot Foundation. The discussion brought together a diverse panel of leaders and experts including:

• Penny East, CEO, Fawcett Society
• Giles Herdale, Herdale Consulting
• Professor Olga Jurasz, Director, Centre for Protecting Women Online
• Tallulah Belassie-Page, Online Safety Act Network
• Professor Bashar Nuseibah, Professor of Computing, The Open University

Speaking at the conclusion of the event, Professor Olga Jurasz, Director of CPWO, said:

“The conference provided a crucial and critical forum for researchers, advocates and practitioners in the field of online safety to explore ideas, share good practice, and also look towards challenges ahead. It’s been inspiring to see the passion, commitment and determination of all participants to truly move the dial on the future of women’s online safety. Centre for Protecting Women Online is proud to not only convene this forum but be the vehicle driving this change.”

About the Centre for Protecting Women Online

The Centre for Protecting Women Online is funded by a £7.7 million grant from Research England. It serves as a pioneering hub for understanding and addressing the challenges to women’s safety online through a novel, interdisciplinary, and ambitious research agenda.

Its mission is to combine cutting-edge research with cross-sectoral collaboration to produce impactful outputs and interventions that:

• Inform law, policy, technology development, and practice;
• Reduce online harms suffered by women and girls;
• Minimise anti-social behaviours online while promoting pro-social ones;
• Drive innovation in tech and software design to enhance accountability, credibility, and access to justice.

The Centre is led by Professor Olga Jurasz, Professor of Law, and delivers its work through a management team and five interwoven work streams: Law and Policy, Human Behaviour, The Future of Responsible Tech, Ethical and Responsible Tech/AI, and Policing.

The annual conference forms part of the Centre’s wider ambition to act as a vehicle for knowledge exchange, global collaboration, research, advocacy and practical solutions to eliminate online violence against women and girls.