How Safety-by-Design tech can end technology-facilitated gender-based violence in Africa

August 1, 2025

A global surge in technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is silencing women across Africa and beyond, with a recent survey showing over half of women entrepreneurs in developing countries face online harassment. This digital abuse ranges from deepfakes to doxxing and has led four in ten women to withdraw from public life, with even higher rates among female journalists. In response, a "Safety by Design" approach is gaining traction, emphasizing built-in protections in digital platforms rather than after-the-fact remediation.

Who is affected

Women journalists and female political candidates in Ghana, Senegal, and Namibia
Women entrepreneurs in low and middle-income countries, with over half reporting online harassment
Female journalists, with nearly three-quarters experiencing abuse tied to disinformation and deepfakes
Girls and young women, with 58% experiencing online harassment often before age 25
University students in Kenya, where 90% witnessed technology-facilitated abuse and nearly 40% were direct targets
Survivors of domestic violence in South Africa using the GRIT app

What action is being taken

The Australian eSafety Commissioner is providing an open-access Safety by Design toolkit for developers
East African trainers from Safe Sisters are teaching women journalists about digital security
South African coders developed the GRIT mobile app with an encrypted evidence vault for domestic violence survivors
Pollicy in Uganda created the Digital Safe Tea game to educate users about online harassment
TikTok launched a Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council in Nairobi for policy review
Ayoba chat service is screening photos against banned images supplied by gender rights groups
Stop NCII tool allows victims to create digital fingerprints of intimate photos to block their distribution across platforms

Why it matters

TFGBV silences women's voices when they most need to be heard, particularly during critical events like elections
The harm is persistent and portable across platforms, blurring online and offline boundaries
Victims respond by self-censoring and withdrawing from public life, suppressing diverse voices in civic discourse
Without intervention, women pay a disproportionate price for digital participation
Safety by Design shifts responsibility from individual users to the entire ecosystem including platforms, regulators, developers, and civic groups
Evidence collected through secure apps is strengthening legal cases against abusers in courts

What's next

Kenyan regulators are working on draft rules that would require all new social apps to file safety assessments before launch
Kenya is conducting public hearings on draft child online safety rules
The African Union expects member states to write corporate duties into law and publish public dashboards tracking takedown speeds
African legislatures are looking to pair Ghana-style image-abuse laws with Kenya-style risk-assessment duties
Continental collaboration is expected to continue developing safety-by-design approaches to reduce online gender-based violence

Read full article from source: Global Voices