CYBER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

and harassment. This included threats to leak nude
photographs of her in an attempt to humiliate her. Though
a hoax, the threat still exists and acts like these can serve
as silencing mechanisms for young women around the
world. In contrast to this type of attitude and behaviour,
the HeforShe campaign has shown the commitment of
hundreds of thousands of men to speak out against such
misogyny. 60
Other global incidences can be found within the APC
report “Cases on women’s experiences of technologyrelated
VAW and their access justice”.
3.3. Cyber VAWG against the backdrop
of cyber-crime
How should cyber VAWG action be integrated with
national and international action in the context of
cybercrime? According to cyber security industry 2013
survey findings: the cybercrime threat environment has
become increasingly pervasive and hostile — and actions
to stem the tide of attacks have had limited effect. Digital
attack vulnerability is also on the rise: collaboration,
expanding the use of mobile devices, moving the storage
of information to the cloud, digitizing sensitive information,
moving to smart grid technologies, and embracing
workforce mobility alternatives without first considering
the impact these technological innovations have on their
cybersecurity profiles.
Viral rape videos, which have become particularly
commonplace in South Africa, is one such example. There
are also growing concerns over the use of technology
to ‘cyber stalk’ victims. Increases in the availability of
information online, for example through location tagging,
may facilitate these forms of victimization and increase
risks for victims. Even though South Africa has strict laws
governing these types of behaviours, these are rarely
enforced. Technology also has the potential to facilitate the
prosecution of crimes in cases of gender-based violence.
While the Internet is a potential engine of equality, it
has also often reinforced the power imbalances of
offline realities; escalating cyber VAWG is one indicator
that further cements and magnifies unequal power
relations between men and women. Responding to this
development are organizations like the Association for
Progressive Communications (APC) which is both at the
forefront of sounding the alarm about cyber VAWG and
contributes to a global perspective to the discourse with
the objective of reversing the tide against this form of
violence against women and girls. APC and like-minded
organizations are promoting anti-violent behaviours
while acknowledging that technology, if properly
instrumentalized can also be serve as an effective tool to
combat all forms of VAWG.
Africa has not been immune to increased cybercrime,
with countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa
fast becoming hubs of cybercrime activity. New concerns
have emerged about technology-facilitated genderbased
violence. Currently, mobile phones are the most
commonly used tool to perpetuate cyber violence against
women, especially in emerging regions like Africa.
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