Read more: As technology evolves, the playing field is supposed to be levelled, but could Middle Eastern women be further excluded?
Shocking evidence published by the Dutch NGO Rutgers reveals that technology's most serious impact – tech-facilitated gender-based violence – is high in countries studied, including Morocco, Jordan and Lebanon.
Moreover, gender-based violence facilitated by technology reduces women's voice online and even leads to their exclusion from public life.
“Initially we thought online activism would open the door for women who couldn't leave their homes to have a voice, but now all this online violence is trying to thwart that progress and make it worse for women in general,” said Hadeel Abdel Aziz, executive director of Jordan's Legal Support Center. New Arab.
The multi-country study, “Understanding Technology Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: A Seven-Country Perspective,” was commissioned as part of Rutgers University's Generation G program, which aims to build bridges between younger and older generations of activists, part of its mission to address gender inequality and reduce gender-based violence.
Information was obtained from respondents (50 interviews conducted following a literature review) from Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda, shedding light on the nature of technology-facilitated gender-based violence and the effectiveness of measures to address it in the represented countries.
The survey results found that online harassment is prominent across the board, with intimate partner violence also seen, along with the use of technology for non-consensual sharing of images, social media threats and offline stalking.
At the policy level, there is limited understanding among victims, perpetrators, authorities and society about the impact and legal status of technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Low digital literacy and a lack of awareness-raising campaigns exacerbate the problem. Moreover, digital violence is often downplayed by authorities, leading to low reporting rates and inadequate protection.
Threats, violence and harassment can occur online, but such “virtual” violence also impacts the real lives of victims, so a continuum exists between online and offline violence.
For example, Ghizlane Mamouni, founder of the Moroccan non-profit organization Kif Mama Kif Baba, said: New Arab She described how she and other activists pushing for the North African kingdom's upcoming new family law received “insulting messages” from opponents and death threats against them and even their children to keep them quiet.
Despite this, Mamouni and other activists didn't stop their work, but they became more careful with their language, knowing there would be repercussions, such as fear, and “there would be a cost,” she said.
Self-censorship is an effect seen in Jordan, Aziz noted, citing two prominent examples of technology-facilitated gender-based violence in the Hashemite Kingdom. First, public officials and political, human rights and women's rights activists tend to face online gender-based violence that is weaponized for political reasons. “Sexualizing” women is a common tactic as the social impact is more harmful.
“Women are accused of being prostitutes and so on, and they do illegal or inappropriate things. I have encountered this myself, others have encountered it too. It's very common,” Aziz said.
She continued that critics have trolled women, telling them to “go back to the kitchen,” and that such abuse is rooted in patriarchal norms.The Rutgers study also found that these patriarchal attitudes may proliferate more easily online as technology improves.
For women outside the public eye, particularly young women and girls, “sextortion” is another manifestation of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, where victims are blackmailed with snapshots of private, intimate images or conversations that they threaten to show to their parents or make public online. The blackmail could, for example, be to demand further sexual acts.
Poverty and financial influences can also motivate gender-based violence that is facilitated by technology.
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For example, one survey respondent said of this trend: “We started documenting teenage girls on TikTok who are getting naked on TikTok to get paid. They're encouraging others to do the same, and it's very dangerous because there's no precautions or protections in place.”
All three countries have laws to address this crime, but conflicting laws and selective application of the laws mean they do not adequately protect people from technology-enabled gender-based violence.
For example, the 1810 penal code still contains laws criminalizing sex outside of marriage, same-sex relations, adultery and abortion, and this law, inherited from France, is a major obstacle for victims of technology-enabled gender-based violence in Morocco to seek protection under other laws, according to Mamouni.
So even if it is illegal to take or broadcast images of individuals without their consent, other laws mean that victims can be prosecuted under the criminal code. This brings to mind the case of a young female student who filed a complaint with the prosecutor.
The prosecutor, also a woman, advised her to leave before she finished her testimony, because if she admitted to having been blackmailed with images of extramarital sex, they would have to arrest her before moving on to the boy's case.
Aziz acknowledged that Jordan's cybercrime law is enforced but has imbalances. For example, insults against officials and leaders are dealt with swiftly. And while prosecutors can initiate cases when public officials are insulted online without them reporting it, ordinary citizens are obliged to report incidents and provide evidence of a crime, providing the appropriate paperwork and, in some cases, even their mobile phones, which can sometimes act as a disincentive to reporting.
In general, gender-based violence facilitated by technology is not taken seriously as a crime in the countries surveyed by Rutgers University. A United Nations Women's survey conducted in eight Arab countries in 2022 also found that 41% of women and 48% of men believe that “online violence is not a serious problem as long as it remains online.” However, as mentioned above, its effects also extend offline.
Psychological suffering is common, according to 56 percent of those surveyed. “The situation has even led some to commit suicide,” said one Lebanese policymaker.
Vulnerable groups in society experience technology-facilitated gender-based violence more severely, such as people who identify as LGBTQ+ or people with disabilities who are therefore technology-dependent, but politicians are also at high risk: 24% of those interviewed in the report said politicians are aware of this trend, which has put them off holding public office or even running for office.
In responding countries, organizations and communities are taking action to address tech-enabled gender-based violence through initiatives like digital literacy workshops and victim guidelines. But by and large, tech-enabled gender-based violence is overlooked and underestimated, and even positive steps in legislation, as seen in Indonesia, need to be accompanied by proper implementation, including awareness-raising and law enforcement training, said Rose Ronning, a researcher at Rutgers University.
An effective response requires cooperation between multiple stakeholders, including online platforms, police and other authorities. “The voice of victims needs to be at the centre of these discussions,” Rønning adds.
Statistics show that digital violence is on the rise across the Middle East and North Africa, with almost half of women in the region experiencing online violence. Such digital violence against women limits their freedom of expression and participation in the digital space, depriving them of essential access to modern technology, information and knowledge, SMEX reports. SMEX's Digital Safety Helpdesk has received hundreds of reports of digital violence from countries such as Lebanon and Egypt.
Statistics from the SMEX Helpdesk show that sexual blackmail cases are on the rise in the region, particularly targeting LGBTQIA+ people, journalists and activists, and they cite threats against civil society activists in Jordan as a “clear example.”
More research is needed to understand the nature of gender-based violence that is facilitated by technology and its impact on victims and society at large, Rønning said.
“When women are silenced [technology-facilitated gender-based violence] … This then represents a threat not only to women as individuals, but also to their equal participation, their full civic participation, and ultimately to their participation in democracy at the societal level.”
Sofia Akram is a researcher and communications professional with a special interest in human rights across the Middle East.
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