Blessing and curse: Tech boom fuels online violence against women and girls

Interviews conducted with people in Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda, found widespread links between online violence and the offline world – or an “online-offline continuum of violence

Geneva, Swtizerland | THE INDEPENDENT | Women and girls are disproportionately experiencing violence fuelled by the increasing use of technology, with online abuse often spilling over into physical violence, an alarming new report released this week finds.

A more comprehensive understanding of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), its variations across contexts, and demonstrably effective responses to combat it is urgently needed, said Dutch NGO Rutgers.

Rutgers led the seven-country study together with ABAAD, Equimundo, and Sonke Gender Justice through the global Generation G partnership with youth leaders and civil society to tackle the root causes of gender inequality. The report was launched today at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva.

“The digital revolution has been a blessing and a curse,” said Loes Loning, a researcher at Rutgers. “It has transformed societies, reshaping daily life, culture, politics, and economics, but as digital tools evolve, and access expands so too does the potential for people to misuse them.

“Evidence shows that women and girls are disproportionately experiencing technology-facilitated gender-based violence and that this often spills over into physical violence, with detrimental impacts on survivors’ physical, emotional, and economic well-being, as well as broader social and political repercussions.”

The data, which involved interviews conducted with people in Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda, found widespread links between online violence and the offline world – or an “online-offline continuum of violence”.

TFGBV was broader than online violence but occurring online and in digital spaces through both old and new technology such as phones, GPS tracking devices, drones, or recording devices not connected to the internet, the report stressed. It was the result of various root causes, with the influence of patriarchy, social ideas of morality, and socially imposed gender roles amplifying it. Although survivors are disproportionately women and girls, boys and young men including male family members or friends of women and girls who have experienced it are also affected.

Far from existing in isolation, online abuse was acting as a springboard for offline gender-based violence including sexual harassment, stalking, and intimate partner violence, leading to a dangerous pattern, the research found.

“There were threats via WhatsApp but (this) then continued to physical acts such as rape – this is a combination of offline and cyberspace,” a government official from Indonesia said, according to the research.

In South Africa, one girl was bullied on and off social media before being beaten and having a video of her filmed by school peers publicised. Two days later, after it trended, she killed herself, it said.

In Morocco, a civil society worker described how “sometimes ex-husbands/partners might use intimate pictures or videos for revenge, to get women to give up custody, alimony, or to ask her for money, property”, the report added.

In some countries, laws against TFGBV clash with other legislation, a phenomenon that the report labelled a “double-edged sword”. They can be used against survivors to charge them for crimes that they are actually the victims of.

“Laws that are seemingly there to protect victims actually do the opposite,” said Abishiag Wabwire, project coordinator at the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA-U).

“Uganda is one of the few African countries that actually has a law against TFGBV.  However, patriarchal standards and the cyber law that should protect victims are instead being evoked to oppress them and uphold patriarchal standards.”

Key groups at risk were gender and women’s rights defenders, women in the public eye, children, young people, and LGBTQI+ people, the report found. Women in the public eye, including politicians, journalists, and celebrities, were at a more heightened risk. Online abuse causes them to withdraw from professional life, including public service, with appalling consequences for women’s rights, democracy, and gender equality.

Sheila Kasabiiti – the Programs Manager at Reach A Hand Uganda, said, “Technology offers endless opportunities, but it can also be misused to cause harm. We need to raise awareness about its misuse and the gaps that enable gender-based violence. This will help us push for laws that ensure gender justice.”

The report calls for collaborative efforts between individuals, NGOs and civil society, governmental entities, and technology companies and platforms such as

X, TikTok, Facebook, and Meta, to combat TFGBV and to create a safe, inclusive, and equitable online environment.