Lena Schilling of Austrian Greens says images are ‘digital violence against women’ and a threat to democracy

An Austrian MEP has spoken out about her experience of being “stripped naked” online without her consent and has urged the EU to take action, as a report found that one in six female MEPs had been targeted by sexualised AI-generated content.

Lena Schilling of the Green party said she had learned last month about nude deepfakes of herself circulating online. When she opened the links, she found herself staring at images from one of her first ever press conferences – but the images had been digitally altered to remove her clothing.

Experts say children who live and learn in institutions away from their parents will always be more vulnerable

• Warning: contains graphic content some readers may find upsetting

Benji* was in his early teens when a fellow pupil at one of the country’s most prestigious independent schools began a series of sexual assaults against him that went on for years.

He had previously been happy at school, where he excelled at sport. Then one night he woke in his dormitory to find the other boy’s hand on his penis. “I just froze,” said Benji.