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Women and girls are disproportionately experiencing violence fuelled by the increasing use of technology. Online abuse often spills over into physical violence, an alarming new report by Rutgers and the Generation G partnership released today at the Human Rights Council in Geneva finds.
A blessing and a curse
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 in Geneva.
“The digital revolution has been a blessing and a curse,” said Loes Loning, 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.”
“Evidence shows that women and girls are disproportionately experiencing technology-facilitated gender-based violence and that this often spills over into physical violence.”
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The data, which involved a literature study and 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.
“As digital tools evolve and access expands so too does the potential for people to misuse them.”Loes Loning, researcher at Rutgers
Springboard for offline violence
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.
“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. ”
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Double-edged sword
In some countries, laws against TFGBV exist 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 upholding patriarchal standards.”
Groups at risk
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.
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.
Decoding technology-facilitated gender-based violence: a reality check from seven countries
The study pinpoints efforts to prevent and mitigate TFGBV, and offers recommendations for how nations, organisations and communities can take action.
