Southern African governments, civil society organisations and other key stakeholders should develop robust and coordinated strategies to fight the menace of online gender-based violence (OGBV).
A survey conducted by MISA Regional in collaboration with UNESCO to ascertain the prevalence and impact of OGBV found that 96% of respondents access social media, mainly through Facebook, X and WhatsApp, among others, once or several times a day.
Violence against women is the most pervasive breach of human rights worldwide, which is being worsened by targeting and attacking women, including female journalists who are vocal online.
The attacks lead to female journalists censoring themselves, limiting their freedom of expression. This is of particular concern, considering that social media has become an integral part of people’s lives.
This calls for developing more rigorous and coordinated strategies to stem the growing menace of GBV at national, continental, and global levels. Female journalists should be capacitated to vigorously deal with technologically facilitated GBV.
Media stakeholders and policymakers should continually articulate the aspirations of regional and international instruments such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Resolution 522.
While MISA commends governments in the region for enacting legislation to address OGBV, more still needs to be done.
MISA, therefore, reminds governments of the commitments they made by ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Implementation of the recommendations of the ACHPR Resolution 522 on the Protection of Women Against Digital Violence in Africa is vital in fighting and preventing GBV.
Some of the critical recommendations of Resolution 522 are:
Recommendation 1: Review/adopt legislation that aims at combating all forms of digital violence and expanding the definition of gender-based violence to include digital violence against women including cyber-harassment, cyberstalking, sexist hate speech amongst other ICT-related violations.
Recommendation 6: Ensure and facilitate effective cooperation between law enforcement authorities and service providers with regards to the identification of perpetrators and gathering of evidence, which should be in full compliance with fundamental rights and freedoms and data protection rules.
As the world commemorates the 16 Days of Activism, MISA reaffirms its commitment to eliminating violence against women, particularly female journalists. The organisation will continue to work with different stakeholders to strengthen the region’s response to online gender-based violence.
The 16 Days of Activism is an annual international civil society-led campaign that commences on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and ends on 10 December, International Human Rights Day.
