Online violence should be a problem for all

"It’s just a tracker app — he’s worried." "He texts me constantly because he loves me."

She reported him. She blocked him. She flagged his account seven times but according to the platform "it doesn’t violate their community guidelines."

We’ve all heard or read these types of stories from a loved one, a friend or a friend’s friend (or worse, we have experienced it). Nearly half of Gen Z and millennial women have experienced online gender-based violence. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is a growing issue that disrupts the rights and development of women and girls worldwide.

According to UN Women, TFGBV is "any act that is committed, assisted, aggravated or amplified by the use of information communication technologies or other digital tools which results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological, social, political or economic harm or other infringements of rights and freedoms."

Where are we now?

TFGBV is driven by the same structural gender inequalities as other forms of GBV. With billions of people using digital technologies, social media and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI), statistics show that women and girls face a proliferation of threats, because these tools are far too often weaponised against them.

As technology becomes more accessible, unfortunately, the barrier to entry for offenders is lowered. Online encryption and anonymisation services can also make it harder to investigate and prosecute TFGBV. And yes, gender-based violence can occur both online and offline, but one can’t deny that technology makes it easier for offenders to remain anonymous, significantly increasing the scale and speed of violence.

Cause for concern

Recent research by UK youth charity Dignify, looked at almost 8,000 secondary school children revealed that more than a third of secondary school children say they hear harmful sexual comments every week. Figures also found one in five pupils will see sexual messages on phones. However, only 36% felt confident enough to tell their teachers about what they experienced.

Closer to home, in a survey by the Kenya ICT Action Network with respondents from both rural and urban areas, 54% of the participants had experienced some sort of TFGBV. The survey outlined the most prevalent forms of TFGBV in Kenya include: cyberbullying, doxing (the act of sharing someone’s personal information online), non-consensual sharing of intimate images, deepfakes (creating realistic video or audio using artificial intelligence), and body shaming.

Another shocking statistic is from a study by the Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development in collaboration with the University of Nairobi Women's Economic Empowerment Hub and funded by the United Nations Population Fund - nearly 90% of young adults enrolled in Nairobi's universities and colleges have witnessed TFGBV, with 39% experiencing it firsthand.

While online violence has a wide reach, the study found that female students are disproportionately affected, with 64.4% of female students experiencing at least one type of online violence, compared to 35.5% for male students.

How do we move forward?

These figures should be a stark wake-up call for everyone. They underscore the urgency in taking steps towards ensuring safe digital communities - TFGBV is not just a ‘women’s issue.’ It can affect anyone and be experienced differently by everyone. There must also be careful attention to the intersectional needs of marginalised and vulnerable populations when addressing TFGBV.

An intersectional approach to violence against women and girls includes consideration of where gender intersects with other inequalities or oppressions (sexuality, ethnicity, disability) to produce unique experiences of violence - basically, recognising how digital violence disproportionately impacts women from vulnerable groups.

Child survivors of TFGBV might face barriers to accessing information about help or might be fearful of reporting incidents, especially if they don’t have a safe place to go to. Survivors with disabilities may also face barriers to accessing services depending on the nature of their impairment.

Dialogue and meaningful action

We need survivor-centred approaches and frameworks that prioritise the rights, safety and wellbeing of TFGBV survivors. Misogyny and violence towards women and girls must start in schools. We ought to start having conversations about healthy and respectful relationships, helping them confidently recognise harmful or controlling behaviour, what they might come into contact with online, issues on pornography, how to manage their own emotions in a healthy way and how they deal with trauma.

Addressing TFGBV requires governments to urgently and effectively regulate policies that ensure accountability in digital spaces. Governments should invest in prevention efforts e.g. support community-led activism, mandatory digital literacy education programmes in schools plus training law enforcement agencies.

Adults also need to understand the online cultures our kids are being exposed to so we can try and understand their world - conversations must be had at schools and at home.

Through partnerships and constant dialogue will we be successful in shaping a world where everyone, especially women and girls in all their diversity, can fully exercise their rights and freedoms in the digital space.

 Written by Senator Crystal Asige, MP