Fire is good, but untamed fire can burn a whole forest. And honestly in this time where technology has taken center stage of life, this is exactly how I see technology.

In the wrong hands…it is just destruction, and a lot of innocent people, especially women are constantly falling prey. Just a week ago, a female media associate, finds herself in a very strange situation.

An online predator had used Artificial Intelligence to generate fake photos of her in compromising setups, and these photos were being sent to her via whatsApp using different numbers.

This person was trying to extort her with threats of releasing the images to the public if she doesn’t comply.

There were also threats that if she went to the police she would face the same wrath. Well, I gave the only advice I could: do not engage. So she was silent for a while and later reported to the DCI.

Early this year, the internet had gone wild with a sudden expose of increased femicides in the country. Upon investigations, police reports on some of the deaths revealed that the victims had unsuspectingly had online engagements with their predators on social media before physically meeting up and their lives taken.

Let’s not forget to mention the kind of online bullying that many women including well known media personalities like Betty Kyallo face on a daily basis. Betty has grown a thick skin, luckily she is a strong woman because to another woman or girl, it would have been death by suicide.

Technology has created a global village and it has been a very useful tool, but we cannot overlook how much harm or threats we are facing as women and girls every other day.

While sharing cute photos has for years been used for just global connections and stuff like that, unfortunately the gravity of technology facilitated gender based violence might be taking a whole new turn to this dangerous.

There are new social media platforms being launched every other year and users are the fish in the lake of it all, others swim others get entangled in the snares.

Technology facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is an act of violence perpetrated by one or more individuals that is committed, assisted, aggravated and amplified in part or fully by the use of information and communication technologies or digital media, against a person on the basis of their gender.

It is any act that is committed or amplified using digital tools or technologies causing physical, sexual, psychological, social, political, or economic harm to women and girls because of their gender.

This action is carried out using the internet and or mobile technology and includes stalking, bullying, sexual harassment, defamation, hate speech and exploitation.

According to the Institute of Development Studies, between 16-58 per cent of women have experienced technology-facilitated gender based violence.

The Economist Intelligence Unit found that 38 per cent of women have had personal experiences of online violence, and 85 per cent of women who spend time online have witnessed digital violence.

The most common forms of violence reported were misinformation and defamation (67 per cent), cyber harassment (66 per cent), hate speech (65 per cent), impersonation (63 per cent), hacking and stalking (63 per cent), astroturfing (a coordinated effort to concurrently share damaging content across platforms, 58 per cent), video and image-based abuse (57 per cent), doxing (55 per cent), violent threats (52 per cent), and unwanted images or sexually explicit content (43 per cent).

Human rights defenders, journalists and lawmakers, politicians, women activists and feminists, academics and young people face increased rates of violence.

It is time to tame this new form of violence through empowerment programs and digital safety training.

— The writer is a Human Rights Defender and a Correspondent with People Daily