Digital violence surge across Africa: new Paradigm Initiative study warns of systemic failures
A new pan-African study reveals that technology-facilitated gender-based violence is widespread and escalating, with young women disproportionately affected and formal reporting systems largely failing to provide protection or accountability.
A new study from Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has exposed a sharp rise in technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) across several African countries, describing an increasingly hostile digital environment marked by weak safeguards and limited institutional responses. Published on International Human Rights Day, the research spans Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, offering one of the most detailed regional examinations of how online abuse is evolving and how survivors navigate digital spaces with inadequate support.
According to the findings, 67 percent of respondents reported experiencing at least one form of digital violence. Most incidents occurred on mainstream platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and X, reflecting broader concerns that these services remain structurally unsafe for many users, particularly women, activists, journalists, and other high-visibility groups. The study documents a wide spectrum of harms, ranging from harassment and threats to stalking, hacking, non-consensual image sharing, sextortion, and identity-based attacks. Survivors described deep emotional, psychological, and reputational effects that extend far beyond the original incidents.
A central concern identified by PIN is the disconnect between the scale of the problem and the responses available. Police, employers, and public institutions remain underused, with survivors expressing mistrust, fear of retaliation, or little expectation of meaningful action. As a result, many navigate these situations alone, relying on informal networks or coping strategies that rarely address the underlying risks. The research stresses that this lack of institutional support perpetuates impunity and leaves vulnerable groups exposed to repeated abuse.
The study also emphasises that TFGBV is disproportionately affecting younger users. The majority of survivors were between 18 and 34, signalling that digital violence is shaping early professional, social, and political experiences across the region. PIN notes that without stronger protections, the long-term effects on democratic participation, online expression, and gender equality could be significant.
By adopting a survivor-centred methodology, PIN highlights the structural dimensions of online abuse that statistics alone often overlook. The report argues that addressing TFGBV requires coordinated action across technology companies, governments, and civil society, alongside stronger legal frameworks and more effective reporting pathways. PIN calls for urgent reforms to ensure African digital spaces are safe, inclusive, and rights-respecting, aligning with the year’s Human Rights Day theme: ‘Human Rights, our everyday essentials.’
The full report is available for further reading.
