As thousands of South Africans change their social media profiles to purple in a powerful wave of digital solidarity, the Women for Change movement highlighted the urgent national crisis of gender-based violence (GBV) ahead of its planned national shutdown.
“This massive ‘purple wave’ online is a phenomenal display of digital activism and solidarity. It shows how technology can be harnessed to mobilise, to give survivors a voice, and to demand accountability on a global stage, especially with the G20 Summit imminent,” says Anna Collard, SVP content strategy & CISO advisor at KnowBe4 Africa.
“The same digital tools that connect and empower us have become weapons used against many women in modern forms of gender-based violence. Growing evidence shows how online spaces fuel misogyny and normalise physical GBV. This threat is compounded by a significant gender gap in technology access: according to the ITU, only 32% of African women use the internet, compared to 42% of men.
“While several barriers contribute to this gap, such as financial accessibility, the prevalence of online GBV only makes matters worse, further discouraging women from participating in digital spaces,” says Collard.
Three critical emerging threats
The UN Secretary-General’s 2024 report highlights three critical emerging threats:
- Increasing backlash against women’s rights
- Rapid growth of AI technology
- Spread of the “manosphere” (online misogynistic content) into mainstream culture, which influences public attitudes and drives violence against women.
“The fight for women’s safety has definitely also moved into the digital realm,” Collard explains. “We are talking about misogynistic narratives spread by influencer types, abusers using spyware to monitor their partners’ every move, cyberstalking, ‘revenge porn’, or creation of deepfake, AI generated intimate images to embarrass or harass, doxxing to expose personal information, and relentless online harassment.
“This isn’t ‘lesser’ violence; it is a profound violation of safety and privacy that inflicts severe psychological trauma and often serves as a precursor to, or enabler of physical violence.”
Why digital literacy is important
As the Women for Change movement demands that GBV be declared a national disaster, Collard argues that digital literacy must be seen as an essential component of protecting and empowering women.
“In this context, cybersecurity awareness is a fundamental life skill and a tool for self-defence,” Collard states. “This is about giving women the practical knowledge to control their digital footprint, secure their devices and online profiles, recognise the red flags of digital stalking or harassment, and understand the legal recourse options available.
How to build an inclusive internet
The Women’s Rights Online (part of the World Wide Web Foundation) outlines the following steps that should be taken by policymakers to address the digital gender gap and build an inclusive internet for us all:
- Strengthen women rights online and offline
- Invest in digital skills and data literacy education
- Ensure that all citizens have affordable and meaningful access to the internet
- Stimulate supply (and creation) of relevant content and services for women online
- Adopt and integrate concrete gender equity targets into national ICT policies
“Personally, I feel that this is an issue that needs a lot more awareness. True freedom and safety, which is the ultimate goal of the Women for Change movement, must extend to all the spaces we as women occupy – and that includes our digital lives.”
