The 16-days campaign to end digital violence against women and girls has been ongoing with individuals, organizations, and victims using their voices to create awareness, speak the truth to end these vile activities permeating the digital space that hurt and harm the safety of women and girls. But this poses the question: How Do Women Experience Violence in the Digital Space?
The digital world, once embraced as a space of limitless opportunities to connect, inspire, express, and relate, has also become a breeding ground for various forms of violence, especially against women. These include harassment, abuse, and scams that threaten their safety, freedom, mental health, and emotional wellbeing.
Digital violence against women also underscores gender-based harm or abuse that occurs through digital platforms such as social media, messaging apps, email, or other online spaces. It mirrors real-world gender violence but takes place in virtual environments, often with extreme psychological and social consequences.
When a woman shares her opinion online about controversial topics and themes, she is insulted in comment sections, trolled and unfollowed. Some women have been affected by these demeaning comments to the point where they disable comment sections just to protect their peace. People also go as far as sending direct messages to women inorder to take advantage of their fragility and shut their voices.
Women are afraid to air their views, offer contrary opinions because they do want to be abused online. Others are being blackmailed in online romantic relationships to achieve financial gain. This cyber bullying has also gotten to the point where netizens body-shame and ridicule ladies for not fitting to the society 'beauty' standards. Women with physical disabilities avoid sharing their pictures online for the fear of being harassed and insulted.
There is also the prevalent act of impersonation. This is where an unknown person uses a woman's pictures and videos to exploit and deceive other people for personal gain. Many ladies have been victims of catfishing and non-consensual sharing of images that have ruined their reputations and kept them in depression. Security and safety in the digital space is no longer assured with the level of phishing, stalking, monitoring and doxxing that women experience online. This creeps in fear, limits social interaction and content creation amongst the female gender.
According to the UN statistics,
28% of women surveyed across several African countries reported experiencing online violence. 42% of female African parliamentarians received death, rape, or abduction threats online.
A popular incident in Nigeria occurred where a Nigerian journalist, Kiki Mordi, was forced to flee the country after receiving online threats and harassment following her 2019 documentary on sexual harassment and abuse of women in Nigerian universities. The documentary, produced for the BBC, sparked intense online backlash, with Mordi facing consistent attacks and threats to her life. Mordi's case highlights the challenges women in Nigeria face when speaking out against gender-based violence and harassment.
Another case study beyond the African continent is that of Olimpia Coral Melo, who is a Mexican-American woman. She was a victim of non-consensual sharing of intimate images. Her activism led to her death, which underlines the devastating impact of digital violence that goes beyond just emotional trauma on screens. They also lead to anxiety, depression, fear, withdrawal from online spaces, and even loss of jobs or opportunities. For women in politics, activism, or public leadership, digital violence is often a tool to silence or discourage them from building a digital presence.
Past or present victims of digital violence can reach out to organizations that specialize in supporting survivors of online harassment and abuse, like the UN Women, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative or Local women's shelters and support groups. You can also protect yourself online by documenting evidence of harassment, blocking or reporting abusive accounts, and seeking help from trusted friends, legal personnel or a therapist. You can also carry out the bystander intervention when you notice harm or a potential threat to someone by speaking out.
But the best ways to curb these vices are simply to provide stronger online policies and laws that rule out any form of abuse in the digital space. The Social Media team must act faster to ban offenders and promoters of abusive content, including the embellishment of troll and fake accounts. There is also the need for digital literacy and safety education across various platforms. Hateful comments, spamming and impersonation should be abolished online. Scamming and phishing must be reported in order to ensure the safety of everyone in the media space, especially amongst women and girls.
Everyone has the right to protect their dignity and speak their truth without being attacked or bullied. This is what the16-days campaign seeks to promote, emphasizing the experiences and impact of digital violence in an attempt to eradicate it completely. But concrete steps must be taken to address digital violence and ensure a safe online environment for all users.
References
- Amnesty International. (2020). _Toxic Twitter: A Toxic Place for Women_.
- Bardzell, S., & Bardzell, J. (2011). _Defining the Digital Woman: A Critical Examination of the Intersection of Technology and Feminism_.
- Citron, D. K. (2014). _Hate Crimes in Cyberspace_.
- European Institute for Gender Equality. (2020). _Cyber violence against women and girls_.
- Gragg, P., & Morris, S. (2020). _Online Harassment and Cyberstalking: A Review of the Literature_.
- Pew Research Center. (2017). _Online Harassment 2017_.
- UN Women. (2020). _Online and ICT facilitated violence against women and girls during COVID-19_.
- World Wide Web Foundation. (2020). _Women's Rights Online Report 2020_.