Online gender-based violence widespread in HE, survey finds

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (GBV) is prevalent in Kenyan education tertiary institutions, with online defamation the form of abuse most frequently used by perpetrators.

Other forms of online abuse include sextortion, cyberstalking, body shaming, sexual exploitation, trolling, bullying and online personification, a survey has found.

Young women are the most frequently targeted and male students, often older students, are most often the perpetrators, according to the survey.

The rapid survey was conducted by the Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development in partnership with the University of Nairobi Women’s Economic Empowerment Hub and with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with the aim of taking steps to end the vice. According to the findings, 21.9% of respondents had either experienced or witnessed online bullying in their institution.

According to the findings, the platforms where technology-facilitated GBV mainly occur are X (formerly Twitter), WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram.

The survey focused on three tertiary institutions: the University of Nairobi, Zetech University and Kabete National Polytechnic. The institutions were selected through purposive sampling to choose one public, one private, and one technical institution, with an equal sample size distribution within each of the chosen institutions.

Researchers used a mixed method to collect quantitative data and qualitative data, focusing on group discussions and key informant interviews. In the quantitative survey a total of 600 students from the three tertiary institutions participated. In contrast, qualitative data was collected from lecturers, deans of students, custodians and guidance and counselling officers within the institutions through key informant interviews.

Additionally, students were randomly selected across faculties, which were broadly categorised into sciences, health science (medicine), humanities, and social sciences (art and law courses).

Young women worst affected

Young women are disproportionately negatively affected by technology-facilitated GBV, as well as women staff.

In fact, technology-facilitated GBV has become the norm on digital social media platforms. However, despite its increasing prevalence, acting against abusers is difficult.

When GBV occurs on digital platforms or online, the majority of incidents involve perpetrators who can hide due to the relative anonymity of the platforms.

Third-year student Queen Esther is studying at the Technical University of Mombasa towards a Bachelor of Broadcast Journalism. The 21-year-old has been experiencing online personification since she was a second-year student. Trying to build her online personal brand as a young journalist, her photos were downloaded by persons unknown to her and used on fake pages with distasteful captions.

“My followers back then would reach out to me asking why I was using my photos on several pages with dirty captions. I tried to explain to them [what was going on] but the more explaining I did, the more pages were created. Others could not even believe that it wasn’t me posting,” she says.

“A man even created a YouTube channel and used my photo as the profile to gather viewership and subscriptions. It is still happening – even today.

“It depressed me so much, back then. I tried to report the man to the authorities but it was difficult to track him down as he kept changing locations. Some of those who were supposed to help me also demanded bribes, and it became so tricky that I just gave up. Those who use my photos currently block me, so my real followers who are able to see what happens send me screenshots,” Esther told University World News.

Esther’s experience affirms what the survey highlights: that relatively little is being done to address technology-facilitated GBV, partly because of its emerging and evolving nature, which calls for focusing more resources on efforts at understanding it holistically and to ensure digital safety for everyone who uses the internet. Her mentor advised her to secure her accounts and try to stay sober and safe online.

Perpetrators

Male students (78.6%) were identified as the top perpetrators of technological-focused GBV, followed by female students (11.5%) and male teaching staff (5.4%). On the other hand, female teaching and non-teaching staff were reported as the least likely perpetrators of technology-facilitated GBV.

The most common forms of technology-facilitated GBV reported by males were defamation and cyberbullying at 43% and 39.4%, respectively. In comparison, stalking was reported as the least experienced form of technology-facilitated GBV at 0.9%.

Additionally, male respondents admitted to participating in, or witnessing the creation of memes, defamation through political activities, and the use of personal information to harass their peers.

Eric (not his real name), a second-year student at Zetech University early this year experienced cyberbullying after he broke up with his girlfriend, who is also a student.

“She and her friends were bombarding my inbox with abusive messages and, when I blocked them, they still created accounts and insulted me on Facebook and X platforms. Although it tortured me mentally, I did not bother to report them. It still happens sometimes but to cope, I have reduced the time I spend on social media,” he told University World News.

His experience confirms that response mechanisms are largely inadequate.

Findings further revealed that older students, for instance, third- and fourth-years, were more likely to be involved with online GBV than students in their early university years.

Furthermore, instances of former lovers being perpetrators were prevalent, suggesting that past romantic connections play a role in this form of GBV. Class groups and social media friends were also identified as possible perpetrators, with motives ranging from gaining fame to manipulation.

Criminal intent

One of the most notable findings relate to the justice system. While the prevalence of technology-facilitated GBV is significant, the reporting rates remain low. Many cases go unreported due to victims feeling ashamed, embarrassed, or lacking awareness that online offenses can be legally prosecuted.

The findings also revealed that the lack of awareness about the criminal nature of online abuse and harassment hinders the frequency of reporting.

Within the justice system, officers faced various challenges in handling and prosecuting online GBV cases due to limited information. A recurring theme was that many individuals were unaware that their interactions with perpetrators served as crucial evidence for prosecution. Frequently, victims closed accounts, deleted messages, or stopped following up on their complaints, thus unintentionally altering the evidence required for the prosecution of the cases.

Tomasz Milej, a law professor at Kenyatta University, says that it is a collective institutional responsibility to end technology-facilitated GBV through good relationships with students to assist the victims of online bullying and trolling, who seem to have no power to speak for themselves.

“We must be proactive in monitoring social media and we should not wait for bullying or any form of online GBV to happen before reporting. We should rely on the signals of those who observe [in order] to sensitise students. You don’t have to be a victim to report bullying or any form of technology-facilitated GBV,” he told University World News.

To end the vice, the study recommends that: institutions should develop and implement an advocacy and public awareness strategy for addressing technology-facilitated GBV, expand the institution’s ecosystem and its capacity to mitigate this form of GBV by enhancing peer-to-peer support in institutions through collaboration with existing student bodies and GBV activists, strengthen support networks for students and share knowledge of effective measures to mitigate technology-facilitated GBV within tertiary institutions.

Other recommendations include providing enough counsellors, actively involving lecturers in policy formulation, the establishment and implementation of a technology-facilitated GBV curriculum to enhance sensitisation, reduce stigma, and boost guidance and counselling within institutions; and integrating technology-facilitated GBV into police training curricula to raise awareness and equip officers to handle these cases.