For International Women’s Day 2025, we’re celebrating the amazing women at MDPI Leader of Open Access Publishing. Women make up a large portion of our workforce in a variety of positions. However, it’s not just what our employees do for the company that is important to us, but also their passions and what they do for the community.

The theme for International Women’s Day 2025 is ‘Accelerate Action.’ One MDPI employee who is accelerating action outside her role as a Production Assistant is Ana Zdravkovic, who identified serious flaws in cybersecurity protecting women and children against online predators. Ana decided to take action by working with like-minded women to form the award-winning Belgrade-based organisation OsnaŽene. The organisation works to identify these criminals, providing evidence to improve legislation and laws around cyberattacks.

In this article, we interview Ana, celebrating the important and inspiring work that she and the organisation do.

Women protecting women

‘OsnaŽene’ is a blend of Serbian words for women and empowerment into one powerful entity.

The organisation was founded by three women who decided to ‘Accelerate Action’ and stop the sharing of explicit private images and videos without consent via social media and messaging apps, which has increased in Serbia. Moreover, these criminals also have access to artificial intelligence (AI) and can create deepfakes.

Deepfakes can be photos, videos, or audio recordings that have been manipulated using AI so that they appear as a different person, including for malicious purposes. As technology becomes more advanced, there are more ways to hide and create incriminating and indecent content.

OsnaŽene uncovered this content and those sharing it on a messaging app known as Telegram. They identified that the culprits are commonly ex-partners hoping to feel some gratification following a breakup. Moreover, they also identified that the culprits can be family members, as the organisation discovered that male family members, mostly sons, often share indecent photos of their sisters and even mothers on the app. In addition, they uncovered that photos unknowingly taken of women on public transport and in public areas also are shared on the app.

OsnaŽene published their findings in a report in June 2024, claiming that an estimated 10,000 messages are sent daily to the groups they monitored in Serbia—with one of the largest having up to 70,000 members.

Speaking to Ana Zdravkovic

It’s clear that the work that OsnaŽene does is crucial for protecting women and children in Serbia from online predators. We speak to Ana Zdravkovic, who describes the organisation and how they are ‘Accelerating Action’ by  fighting for law changes in Serbia concerning cybersecurity.

What are the aims of OsnaŽene?

OsnaŽene is an organisation that is dedicated to supporting and advocating for women’s empowerment through education, mentorship, and direct intervention, working directly with women who are victims of abuse, particularly of digital violence.

We offer guidance on legal procedures and connect women with professional psychological and legal support. Our core mission is to create a safe and empowering space where women can gain the confidence and knowledge to take action—and we’re there for them every step of the way.

We have published various research articles—the main one being our research of Telegram groups that gathered tens of thousands of men from the Balkans, where they exchanged revenge, underage and child pornography. We organized actions that finally led to the termination of all Balkan Telegram groups, and now, we are collaborating closely with the Serbian government to advocate for a new law that will explicitly criminalize the non-consensual sharing of intimate images—an issue currently unaddressed in Serbian legislation.

Alongside this, we have published articles, giving voices to women who have endured this form of abuse. Their stories were later brought to life in a short documentary, shedding light on the impact that digital violence can have.

Every day, we remain committed to exposing perpetrators and fighting for a society where women are protected, heard, and empowered.

What inspired you to get involved with forming the organisation?

It was driven by a deep sense of responsibility and urgency—every day I witness women being targeted, harassed, and silenced, especially in digital spaces where anonymity is almost guaranteed. Seeing the extent of digital violence, how it destroys lives, isolates victims, and remains largely unpunished, thanks to the missing legislation in Serbia that should hold perpetrators accountable, made it impossible for me to ignore the problem.

I wanted to create a space where women could find support, take back control, and fight back. The organisation was born out of need, the need to expose abusers, push for real legal change and ensure that no woman feels alone.

What is the most rewarding accomplishment you’ve achieved with the organisation?

There have been so many rewarding moments. Publishing groundbreaking research, seeing our work being recognised across the Balkans, receiving awards from Serbia and the European Union—all of that feels incredible, to know that our efforts are making an impact on a larger scale.

But, if I had to choose the most rewarding part, it wouldn’t be all the awards; it would be all the women. All the women I’ve met, the ones whose lives we’ve seen being changed with our own eyes. The moments when I could truly feel that our work mattered, in real life, for real people. Even more rewarding is the fact that some of these women have become my very close friends, that we stand together even now, and the fact that they’ve changed my life for the better, as much as we’ve changed theirs, too.

At the end of the day, it’s all about them. Always.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Accelerate Action’. How important is it to encourage action in cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity isn’t just a technical issue; it’s a human rights issue. Encouraging action in cybersecurity is crucial since women are every day exposed to digital violence.

Digital violence, including the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, cyberstalking, and harassment, is a real threat—one that extends far beyond the digital world and has serious real-life consequences for victims. It leads to emotional distress, anxiety, and depression, often pushing survivors into isolation out of fear and shame. We can’t afford to wait.

‘Accelerating Action’ means holding abusers accountable, pushing for stronger laws, and ensuring that online spaces are safe for everyone, including women and men. But it also means dismantling the culture that enables digital violence in the first place—calling out the platforms that profit from harm, demanding zero tolerance for abusers, and refusing to let silence or inaction protect perpetrators.

What are the future aims and goals of the organisation for ‘Accelerating Action’?

Right now, one of our key initiatives is launching workshops for young people on digital safety, ensuring they have the knowledge and tools to protect themselves online.

We are also preparing to launch a podcast where we will speak directly with victims who want to share their stories, giving them a platform to be heard and shedding light on the realities of digital violence. In parallel, we are working on several research projects, including an in-depth analysis of how women in politics are treated, as well as how women are represented in commercials and media. Another important area of our research is exploring the dynamics of online abuse on platforms like Reddit and investigating “nightlife” violence—specifically how security guards and police treat women in nightlife settings.

Our goal remains the same: to expose the realities of gender-based violence, push for systemic change, and create a safer, more just society—both online and offline.

What advice would you give to those who want to ‘Accelerate Action’ in their communities?

My advice would be: don’t wait for the ‘right time’—start now. If you see an issue, take action, even if it seems small to you—it could mean the world to someone. Speak up, start from educating yourself, and then move to educating others.

The fight for women’s and children’s safety needs everyone, whether you are organising protests, offering support to survivors, or simply refusing to stay silent when you witness injustice—silence enables abusers, but speaking up dismantles the system that protects them.

If you want to start your own organisation, be prepared for resistance, but don’t let it stop you! Surround yourself with people you share a common goal with, that share your vision, and whom you trust. But above all, never lose sight of why you started.

The most important thing, the thing that makes me still do everything that I do, is remembering who we are fighting for—every woman who has been silenced, every life that can be changed, every woman who deserves safety and justice. Hold onto that, and you’ll find the strength to keep going.

Supporting Women

Protecting women and children worldwide from online predators is becoming a complicated task with the introduction of new social media platforms messaging services and AI. It’s important to ‘Accelerate Action’ where we can and take inspiration from organisations like OsnaŽene in identifying and holding perpetrators accountable as well as supporting victims.

If you would like to read more about research that is changing women’s livesthis International Women’s Day, please see our recent article that celebrates Advancements in the treatment of Endometriosis.