Online abuse is silencing women on a staggering scale – it’s a democratic crisis | Sharon Kechula

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In March last year, soon after giving birth to her twins, Susan Kihika was subjected to a campaign of online abuse. Kihika, who is governor of Nakuru county in Kenya’s rift valley, was accused of abandoning her country because she took her maternity leave in the US after being treated there for a high-risk pregnancy.

The criticism quickly escalatedto attacks and sexist smears. Soon social media commenters were accusing her of sleeping her way into politics. Her location was shared.

Kihika’s deputy, David Kones, and the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (Kewopa) defended her but the abuse continued, online and offline, calling for Kihika’s removal from office because she has dual Kenyan-US citizenship. Kewopa argued that the scrutiny Kihika faced reflected a double standard: male leaders are rarely criticised for taking time off for personal reasons.

It was not the first time Kihika had been subjected to sexist abuse. In 2018, when she divorced her first husband, she was criticised for choosing politics over monogamy. Twitter (now X) users demanded that she release nude photographs to show that she was not a man.

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What is technology-facilitated gender based violence (TFGBV)?

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As the world becomes increasingly digital, the spaces and methods for perpetrating gender-based violence are expanding and proliferating at an alarming rate.

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is, as defined by the UN, any “act committed using information communication technologies or other digital tools, which results in physical, sexual, psychological, social, political or economic harm, or other infringements of rights and freedoms”. The consequences are severe, affecting many aspects of women and girls’ lives and often forcing them to self-censor or leave the online world altogether. The term reflects how technology can result in harm, both in the digital, and real, world.

Millions of women and girls are affected by TFGBV every year with research suggesting that up to 60% of women around the world have experienced this type of gendered abuse.

TFGBV takes many forms. For example, doxing is the act of sharing someone’s personal information online and can lead to stalking and physical violence in real life. Deepfake abuse, where manipulated images or videos are published online, can damage someone’s reputation and have a lasting impact on their life. Sexual harassment, intimidation and sextortion are also common forms of TFGBV.

It infiltrates homes, workplaces, schools and universities. It has no limits and can occur anywhere. It can start online and escalate into the offline world, or the other way around, culminating in the most extreme forms of violence, including femicide.

Certain groups are more at threat – young women and girls, who are more likely to use technology and are therefore more exposed; women with disabilities, women of colour and LGBTIQ+ people; and women in political and public life such as parliamentarians, activists and journalists.

There are huge gaps in data, policy and the law when it comes to TFGBV, and several international organisations have been working with governments and the tech industry to combat the issue.

Her experience is far from unusual among female politicians. The feminist collective Pollicy documents threats, intimidation and harassment against female candidates in the runup to Kenya’s 2022 elections. On Facebook, it found, 56% of female candidates experienced some form of online violence, compared with 35% of male candidates.

In its assessment of online violence against women during the election, Irex, an international NGO, noted the highly sexualised nature of cyberbullying where “women politicians are often cast as immoral, with fabricated stories and fake sex tapes spread online. Women politicians are attacked for their marital status and personal lives, accused of being prostitutes and of trading sexual favours for their political advancement.”

This pattern is not unique to Kenya. At a global level, the scale of digital violence is staggering. According to a study by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, 38% of women globally have reported experiencing technology-facilitated gender-based violence, or TFGBV, while 85% have experienced or witnessed it. As in Kenya, so it is elsewhere: those seeking or in political office face disproportionately high levels of violence designed to silence them or maintain the status quo of male-dominated political representation.

In 2024, the year when more than half the world’s population lived in countries having elections, women were disproportionately targeted by gendered disinformation, deepfakes, non-consensual image sharing and doxing (malicious publication of private or identifying information online without consent), particularly during political campaigns. In member states of the African Union, 42% of female politicians have received online death threats, rape threats or threats of beatings and abductions, the Georgetown report says.

Online abuse can be devastating to the individual but the weaponisation of technology against women is not just a private crisis – it is a growing democratic threat. When women withdraw from public discourse for safety reasons, democratic participation itself becomes compromised. According to Amnesty International, 76% of women who experience online abuse change how they use social media, and nearly a third stop posting their opinions on certain issues altogether. These numbers represent silenced voices and deferred aspirations. Fewer women running for office means fewer visible role models, leading to a mentorship gap.

The sophistication of digital abuse is increasing as AI tools make it easier to produce manipulated images, videos and narratives that appear authentic. Misuse of smart glasses and wearable recording technologies is an increasing concern. In February, reports alleged that a content creator had used AI-enabled smart glasses to secretly record interactions with women in public spaces in Kenya and Ghana. The footage was reportedly shared on social media without the women’s knowledge or consent.

Kenya and Ghana both have legal frameworks that could apply in such cases, yet enforcement challenges remain, especially when violations involve foreign nationals or cross-border digital platforms.

Laws alone are not sufficient to protect women. They must be enforced by officers with a strong understanding of emerging technologies. Governments must move from being spectators to active participants in addressing digital violence by strengthening legal frameworks, investing in research and improving digital and media literacy. Partnerships and collaborations with technology companies must focus on protecting human rights and safeguarding democratic processes.

Digital spaces mirror the misogyny embedded within our societies. It comes as no surprise when women participating in training sessions ask me what the point is of doing interviews or being on social media, knowing that public exposure will likely unleash a barrage of abuse.

It is vital that we make digital spaces safe for them – and all women. Healthy democracies depend on women enjoying full access to technology without fear that it will be used against them.