The increasing rate of violence against women and girls have become source of concerns lately. We read it in the news everyday and we sometimes witness or experience it in our neighborhoods.
There is no day that passes without reported case of violence against women in our news channels.
The situation has become so prevalent that if you do a content analysis of our dailies from January to December, one will come to terms with the fact that no hour passes without a different woman somewhere in a different location facing a different case related to violence, intimidation, bullying, sexual harassment, cyber stalking or any form of these abuses.
This necessitated why the United Nations designated November 25 every year as International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women; a day to raise awareness on the dangers associated with this evil practices.
This year’s campaign focuses on the digital realm with the theme: “Digital Violence is Real Violence.”
According to report, “Violence against women on online platforms is, today, a serious and rapidly growing threat that seeks to silence the voices of many women—especially those with a strong public and digital presence in fields such as politics, activism, or journalism.”
It further stated that, “Digital violence is a form of violence on the rise due to weak technological regulation and a lack of legal recognition of this type of aggression.”
In some countries, the impunity of digital platforms; new and fast-evolving forms of abuse using Artificial Intelligence AI, movements opposing gender equality, the anonymity of perpetrators and the limited support for digital victims has made the situation worst.
The report added that “These acts don’t just happen online. They often lead to offline violence in real life (IRL), such as coercion, physical abuse, and even femicide – killing of women and girls. The harm can be long-lasting and affect survivors over a prolonged period of time.”
A case in point was how the life of a promising young lady in Nigeria, Cynthia Okosogu was abruptly brought to an end in 2012 by men of the under-world who lured her to their den using the Facebook.
Digital violence targets women more than men, across all walks of life especially those with public or online visibility – such as activists, journalists, women in politics, human rights defenders, and young women – the report added.
Noting that, digital violence manifest itself in the following but not limited forms; Image-based abuse/ non-consensual sharing of intimate images – often called revenge porn or leaked nudes.
Cyberbullying, trolling, and online threats.
Online harassment and sexual harassment.
AI-generated deepfakes such as sexually explicit images, deepfake pornography, and digitally manipulated images, videos or audio.
Hate speech and disinformation on social media platforms.
Doxxing – publishing private information.
Online stalking or surveillance/tracking to monitor someone’s activities.