Expert Bio

Attorney-at-law, human rights defender, former Deputy Human Rights Commissioner of Poland. Law and public policy expert in the field of equal treatment and counteracting violence against women and gender-based violence (domestic violence and cyberviolence against women in particular). Experience in holding the highest public and political functions. Independent researcher, academic, author of many publications in the area of violence against women. Main academic interests concern women's human rights, including violence against women, domestic violence and cyberviolence in particular. Advocate for LGBTQIA human rights. Climate and animal rights activist, so-called farmed animals in particular. Co-founder of think-tanks Green REV Institute and European FEM Institute. The first vegan MEP (2019-2024) from Eastern and Central Europe.

Expertise

• Democracy
• Food and Agriculture
• Gender
• Human Rights

Wilson Center Project

Cyber-violence against women - a new face of an old problem. A new challenge for the protection of human rights and the quality of democracy

Project Summary

More than half of women have been victims of cyber-violence at least once in their lives. Women are more afraid of experiencing abuse online than on the street. Women who do not fit into ’traditional’ roles, defending the rights of women, LGBTIQ+ people, migrants and other vulnerable groups are those at highest risk of such violence. Cyber-violence results in health issues, stress, suicidal thoughts, changing everyday habits, deleting social media accounts and withdrawing from public debate. Gender-based cyber-violence is not only a problem of protecting women's rights and freedoms, but also a problem of protecting the quality of public debate and democracy. Research objective is to conduct a comparative analysis of the legal systems of the EU, EU Member States and the United States in protecting the rights of women experiencing gender-based cyber-violence. The result of the project will be ’ A Roadmap for the Protection of Women from Cyber-violence. De lege ferenda Conclusions’.

Major Publications

• Counteracting Domestic Violence. The Commentary, Wolters Kluwer Publishing House, Warsaw 2023 (6th edition)
• Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The Commentary (co-author), Wolters Kluwer Publishing House, Warsaw 2016
• An analysis of the Victims’ Rights Directive from a gender perspective, European Institute for Gender Equality, Vilnius, Lithuania 2016