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Online harassment, cyberstalking, non-consensual imagery, and misinformation are silencing women, especially in politics, journalism, activism, and public life. Globally, 38 percent of women have experienced online violence, and 85 percent have witnessed it. Misinformation and defamation affect 67 percent of victims, while 90–95 percent of deepfakes are non-consensual pornographic images, mostly targeting women. Sadly, fewer than 40 per cent of countries have adequate laws, leaving 1.8 billion women and girls unprotected.
Violence against women is evolving faster than our systems of protection, and Kenya is not exempt. Thirty years after the Beijing Declaration set the global roadmap for gender equality, the nature of violence has changed. Kenya has made progress through public awareness, strengthened legislation, and community action, yet awareness alone cannot protect a woman whose abuser monitors her phone, impersonates her online, or weaponizes her digital identity. Hashtags matter, but they cannot replace safeguards.
To build real safety, Kenya must treat digital inclusion not merely as a driver of economic participation but as a foundation for preventing and responding to gender-based violence. The shift from digital awareness to digital protection has become an urgent national task.
Data from the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey reveals that more than 41 percent of ever-partnered women aged 15 to 49 report having experienced intimate partner violence. More than a third have faced physical violence, and 13 percent have endured sexual violence. The risks are higher for women in low-income households or with partners who consume alcohol. Without strong data systems, these patterns remain hidden, and intervention efforts are reactive rather than targeted.
Moreover, technology-facilitated gender-based violence compounds the problem. UN Women’s Beijing+30 notes rising cyberstalking, sextortion, and coordinated harassment campaigns. For young women who study, work, or do business online, violence has become instantaneous, anonymous, and borderless. Given this reality, digital inclusion must evolve from simple connectivity to protection.
Women and girls need secure reporting channels, trusted identity-verification tools, digital literacy training, and device-level safety features that prevent impersonation, tracking, or extortion. Indeed, connectivity without safeguards leaves women exposed, while access without education multiplies risk.
Strengthening national data infrastructure is equally important. Gender-based violence is under-reported, not because incidents are rare, but because information is fragmented across police stations, hotlines, hospitals, and community groups.
Integrating these sources would help Kenya identify hotspots, allocate resources to high-risk counties, and respond quickly during political violence, emergencies, or displacement. With proper privacy protections, data becomes a shield rather than a surveillance tool.
Technology can enhance physical safety through interventions already proving effective across Africa. Geo-tagged distress alerts, community panic features linked to local police, smart surveillance in unsafe transport corridors, and secure platforms for uploading evidence or tracking case progression. These tools
do not replace traditional protections like safe houses, police gender desks, or community advocates, but amplify their reach and effectiveness.
Kenya has the technological capacity to lead this effort. Public–private partnerships will be essential.
Technology companies can contribute by strengthening device security, supporting national databases, expanding digital literacy programmes for girls, and collaborating with government and civil society to co-create safer digital environments. The private sector must move beyond corporate sponsorships to become genuine partners in designing the digital architecture that protects our
communities.
Finally, digital inclusion must confront inequality. Women in marginalised counties and informal settlements face the greatest risk but have the least access to technology. Solutions must therefore consider affordability, local-language interfaces, community Wi-Fi, and respond to real, local contexts.
When women can connect safely, they can report safely. When millions can report, the country becomes safer.
Ms. Mohammed is the Communications and Public Affairs Director at Huawei Technologies Kenya
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Online harassment, cyberstalking, non-consensual imagery, and misinformation are silencing women, especially in politics, journalism, activism, and public life. Globally, 38 percent of women have experienced online violence, and 85 percent have witnessed it. Misinformation and defamation affect 67 percent of victims, while 90–95 percent of deepfakes are non-consensual pornographic images, mostly targeting women. Sadly, fewer than 40 per cent of countries have adequate laws, leaving 1.8 billion women and girls unprotected.
Violence against women is evolving faster than our systems of protection, and Kenya is not exempt. Thirty years after the Beijing Declaration set the global roadmap for gender equality, the nature of violence has changed. Kenya has made progress through public awareness, strengthened legislation, and community action, yet awareness alone cannot protect a woman whose abuser monitors her phone, impersonates her online, or weaponizes her digital identity. Hashtags matter, but they cannot replace safeguards.
To build real safety, Kenya must treat digital inclusion not merely as a driver of economic participation but as a foundation for preventing and responding to gender-based violence. The shift from digital awareness to digital protection has become an urgent national task.
Data from the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey reveals that more than 41 percent of ever-partnered women aged 15 to 49 report having experienced intimate partner violence. More than a third have faced physical violence, and 13 percent have endured sexual violence. The risks are higher for women in low-income households or with partners who consume alcohol. Without strong data systems, these patterns remain hidden, and intervention efforts are reactive rather than targeted.
Moreover, technology-facilitated gender-based violence compounds the problem. UN Women’s Beijing+30 notes rising cyberstalking, sextortion, and coordinated harassment campaigns. For young women who study, work, or do business online, violence has become instantaneous, anonymous, and borderless. Given this reality, digital inclusion must evolve from simple connectivity to protection.
Women and girls need secure reporting channels, trusted identity-verification tools, digital literacy training, and device-level safety features that prevent impersonation, tracking, or extortion. Indeed, connectivity without safeguards leaves women exposed, while access without education multiplies risk.
Strengthening national data infrastructure is equally important. Gender-based violence is under-reported, not because incidents are rare, but because information is fragmented across police stations, hotlines, hospitals, and community groups.
Integrating these sources would help Kenya identify hotspots, allocate resources to high-risk counties, and respond quickly during political violence, emergencies, or displacement. With proper privacy protections, data becomes a shield rather than a surveillance tool.
Technology can enhance physical safety through interventions already proving effective across Africa. Geo-tagged distress alerts, community panic features linked to local police, smart surveillance in unsafe transport corridors, and secure platforms for uploading evidence or tracking case progression. These tools
do not replace traditional protections like safe houses, police gender desks, or community advocates, but amplify their reach and effectiveness.
Kenya has the technological capacity to lead this effort. Public–private partnerships will be essential.
Technology companies can contribute by strengthening device security, supporting national databases, expanding digital literacy programmes for girls, and collaborating with government and civil society to co-create safer digital environments. The private sector must move beyond corporate sponsorships to become genuine partners in designing the digital architecture that protects our
communities.
Finally, digital inclusion must confront inequality. Women in marginalised counties and informal settlements face the greatest risk but have the least access to technology. Solutions must therefore consider affordability, local-language interfaces, community Wi-Fi, and respond to real, local contexts.
When women can connect safely, they can report safely. When millions can report, the country becomes safer.
Ms. Mohammed is the Communications and Public Affairs Director at Huawei Technologies Kenya
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By Khadija Mohammed