In the dynamic landscape of Africa’s digital sphere (owning the raw materials and the data), the pressing challenge of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) demands urgent attention and innovative solutions. This blog embarks on a crucial discourse, spotlighting the African Commission’s groundbreaking resolution and how we can collectively endeavour to transform the digital experience into a safer, more inclusive realm for women across the continent.
The African Commission is dedicated to advancing our understanding and addressing the critical issue of TFGBV through committed research efforts. At its 80th Ordinary Session held virtually from July 24 to August 2, 2024, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) adopted a resolution to study digital violence against women in Africa. This resolution echoes the Maputo Protocol, which prohibits all forms of violence against women and girls and emphasizes the need for states to eliminate digital violence (TF-GBV). Examples of TFGBV include online harassment, cyberbullying, trolling, body shaming, doxing, blackmail, sextortion, and more.
The resolution acknowledges that addressing digital violence against women requires comprehensive information and evidence about its nature and extent. Similarly, it is observed that digital violence against women can vary significantly in Africa due to regional and contextual differences. “According to research conducted by Pollicy across five countries in sub-Saharan Africa, 28% of women interviewed had experienced some form of gender-based violence online. Most respondents (29.2%) did not know where to turn for online safety and security information. Of those who reported experiencing this violence, 14.5% deleted or deactivated their online accounts whereas 12.3% stopped using the online service altogether.”
This multifaceted call for collective action from both State and Non-State Actors seeks to interrogate the challenges experienced by women online and how these can be addressed for safer and inclusive online spaces. With this blog, Pollicy and its partners aim to support the African Special Rapporteur on Women’s Rights, with key areas to focus on, such as African data access, and African-wide research on TFGBV under the African Human Rights Mechanisms. Specifically, we acknowledge that African researchers have worked on this issue and have given clear recommendations despite different limitations such as data access, costs, collection, and analysis skills. Separately, there is unprecedented documentation about the resources skilled workers from Africa have put into content governance and localisation online to prevent hate speech through Business process outsourcing (BPO) in Africa used by tech companies such as Open AI, Meta, and Google.
Pollicy is an organisation that brings evidence on TFGBV Research in Africa using a power analysis lens.
The recent resolution presents an opportunity for Pollicy to use data to advocate for a safer and more inclusive digital environment for African women. Our Strategic Plan 2024–2027 has a specific focus on online safety and data through the thematic pillar of a safe and joyful internet.
The Afro Feminist Data Futures Manifesto, advanced by Pollicy and various feminists within Africa in July 2023, emphasises the need to redefine data that represents the experiences of African women on the internet and other emerging technologies.
In fulfilment of the above cause, in July 2024, Pollicy launched the Afrofeminist Internet Scorecard, a model tool that assesses the challenges and progress being made by select African Countries in creating a feminist internet for women- an internet that is inclusive and safe for women and other peripheral populations to thrive. The Scorecard’s inaugural research findings across seven countries; Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Cameroon, Mozambique, and DRC, discovered cross-cutting issues of online gender-based violence against women, wide gender digital divides, and gaps in policy and legal frameworks to effect change.
Specific research on women in politics, journalists, and Women Human Rights Defenders undertaken by Pollicy in its previous studies indicates a more targeted challenge of TF-GBV on the particular women groups. Amplified abuse, and Byte Bullies reports, show that women politicians faced increased online abuse during the 2021 Ugandan and 2022 Kenyan elections respectively.
Another study from Pollicy depicts that the internet is a dark place for women journalists and Women Human Rights Defenders due to targeted online violence in all forms.
The work to define support for the African Human Rights System.
In August 2024, the African Internet Rights Alliance (AIRA) — a coalition of at least seven digital rights civil society organisations — conducted a capacity-building workshop for its members on the role and engagement of CSOs within African Human Rights frameworks. With a strong emphasis on evidence-based engagements against TFGBV, it was learnt that there are various principles and bodies like the African Commission and Special Mechanisms like Rapporteurs that all actors and mostly CSOs can utilise.
Susan Mutambasere from the Centre of Human Rights at the University of Pretoria outlined various opportunities for CSO engagement to advocate for eliminating TFGBV through the African Human and People’s Rights Special Mechanisms. Specifically, she highlighted that CSOs, legal firms, and organised professional groups working to advance innovation in Africa could provide expertise on national legislation and policies, contribute shadow reports, offer recommendations, and participate in public interventions to hold states accountable for protecting women’s digital rights. Particularly, through the African Commission, we all can;
- Provide expertise from a national perspective on contextual analysis of legislation, policies, and practice within African member states to the Commission. At this level, we can provide research on respective African digital landscapes and how they promote digital rights for women in Africa.
- Contribute through shadow reports with evident information, questions, recommendations, and file communications which the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights can use to monitor compliance of standards by member states.
- Contribute to resolutions like the resolution on digital violence against women (2022), by engaging with Special Provisions and contributing to the mechanism processes. This speaks to the role of the African Commission to make public interventions and keep a record of violations like letters of appeal, letters of appreciation, resolutions on a situation, and public statements.
- CSOs can also make statements in case they have observer status and explore collaborative contributions in case of non-observer statuses with those that have during thematic presentations. This supports the Commission in submitting all-issue reports annually to the ACPHR during sessions.
- Provide technical or financial support to the carrying out of studies by Special Provisions, for example, the study on the Implementation of ACHPR soft laws on Access to Information. Through this, the African Commission would be able to carry out studies on human rights issues like online violence against women as a women’s rights violation in African contexts.
Pollicy can amplify its role as a feminist technology watchdog, advocating for regional actions against the growing issue of TFGBV and promoting a safer and more inclusive digital environment for women across Africa. Pollicy and others have been presented with an opportunity to amplify the African perspective on digital violence against women and suggest better strategies for positive change. This can be done through data and evidence, collaboration opportunities, and innovative solutions, specifically at the Commission issuing more Observer status to organisations working on Technology and data by the Commission, issuing shadow reports with other actors from other sectors, policy briefs, and presentations to inform evidence-based engagements and accountability with member states for improved online experiences of women in Africa.
Commitment by ACHPR
The African Commission, through its recent resolution, commits to conducting a one-year study to understand the causes, manifestations, and impacts of digital violence against women in Africa. This study aims to develop comprehensive norms and standards to help states address these violations.
Special Rapporteur on Women’s Rights and Community Engagement
Within the 2023 Report by the Special Rapporteur on Women’s Rights and Community Engagement, it is generally observed and reported that despite the commendable progress in promoting and protecting women’s rights within Africa, a big gap still exists in the effective implementation of legal frameworks like the Maputo protocol and other African Charter resolutions on rights of women. This is due to systemic barriers like ingrained cultural norms that perpetuate gender inequality and discrimination against women.
Appreciating the role of CSOs as crucial contributors towards the protection and empowerment of women in Africa, the Special Rapporteur on Women’s Rights urges both Member State and non-State Actors to actively engage with the Special Rapporteur mandate and strategize on the most effective approaches to realise it. There is an emphasis on the value the mandate and the Commission place on strategic partnerships in this vital work.
The special rapporteur report calls on a collective effort to; “…all work together towards the shared objective of ensuring that the women of Africa can fully realise their potential.”
Challenges in creating Research in TFGBV in Africa
- Data Access issues result from restrictive laws on access to information in most African Countries.
- Normalisation of both offline and online abuses against women promotes a silent culture that hinders documentation
- Limited resources and consistency by both State and CSOs to document and advocate on TFGBV issues faced by women
Call To Action
- How can ACHPR Support?
The ACHPR should uphold its commitment to the one-year research on digital violence against women in Africa, and use the data for evidence-based regional and member-state solutions.
Secondly, to work with Civil Society Organisations as key partners in contributing to research on TFGBV against women in Africa towards their improved online experiences.
- What should Platforms do?
Platforms have a duty to protect and uphold the safety and security of all users regardless of gender. Therefore, they need to strengthen their safety and security measures as a deliberate response to protecting the most vulnerable platform users against targeted abuse.
- Pollicy’s commitment to ACHPR
Pollicy commits to increasingly generating data on the online experiences of women in Africa. This would be used to advocate the different implementing authorities of the African Charter and Member States on improving respective digital environments for women to thrive. As a feminist CSO, Pollicy will also increase its strategic and innovative programming that targets building a safe and inclusive internet for women in Africa.
Author: Brenda Namata, Programs Coordinator Strategic Gender Initiatives and Advocacy, Pollicy
