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Nearly 90 per cent of young adults enrolled in three of Nairobi’s tertiary institutions have witnessed Technology-Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TF-GBV), with 39 per cent having experienced it personally, a new report shows.

 The revelation is contained in a  rapid study conducted by the Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development (CCGD), in partnership with the University of Nairobi Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) hub and supported by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

During the release of the findings, CCGD executive director Masheti Masinjila said the study shows that while online violence has an extensive reach, female students are disproportionately impacted, with 64.4 per cent of the students having experienced at least one type of online violence, compared to 35.5 per cent of their male counterparts.

“Female students are the primary targets of online attacks such as online defamation and non-consensual pornography, with a lasting psychological, social and economic impact on those affected,” said Masinjila.

The sample size of the study was 728 respondents undertaken between October and December last year. The respondents were drawn from the University of Nairobi, Zetech University and Kabete National Polytechnic.

Triggers for the violence range from personal conflicts and revenge to the perceived anonymity of online interactions, the report says.

Other key findings showed that the most common forms of  TF-GBV witnessed and experienced were online defamation at 21.9 per cent, cyber bullying at 19.1 per cent and non-consensual pornography 17.8 per cent.

“Online defamation (34.4 per cent) and non-consensual pornography (24.4 per cent) are the most common forms of TF-GBV against female students, while male students mostly experience online defamation (43 per cent) and cyber bullying (39.4 per cent),” it showed.

Similarly, male students at 78.6 per cent were identified as the top perpetrators of TF-GBV, followed by female students at 11.5 per cent and male teaching staff at 5.4 per cent.

Suffer in silence

The report shows that TF-GBV was most prevalent on social media platforms such as X, formerly Twitter at 18.4 per cent, WhatsApp at 17 per cent, Facebook at 16.8 per cent, Telegram and Instagram at 14.2 per cent each and TikTok at 13.7 per cent.

“Victims of TF-GBV often seek social support, intervention from digital platforms and legal support, but a notable number take no action,” it shows.

The report also showed that gender, economic vulnerability, physical appearance, limited digital safety measures and sharing of personal information online are some of the factors that increase individuals’ vulnerability to online violence.

At the same time, tertiary institutions surveyed reported the existence of disciplinary, legal and supportive measures to combat technology-facilitated gender-based violence.But low awareness among students of these measures, coupled with a failure by many to recognize online violence as a specific form of violence has impeded efforts to address the issue.

UNFPA representative Anders Thomsen said although digitisation is a global megatrend with great potential for achieving growth goals, concerns have been raised on it becoming a new frontier for GBV.

UoN’s WEE HUB Research Fellow Valarie Udalang said: “The findings from this study underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions to protect young people from online gender-based violence. We are committed to leveraging this research to advocate for policies and programmes that address TF-GBV within our higher education institutions.”