The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission warned this week that technology‑facilitated gender‑based violence (TFGBV) is moving from the margins into the mainstream, forcing many women and girls to silence themselves online and offline. The statement, released to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, said that journalists, activists, politicians and young women in Zimbabwe are among the most affected and urged stronger enforcement of existing laws.
“Women and girls are increasingly self‑censoring to avoid online attacks and in the process their voices are being silenced,” the commission said, framing a problem that rights groups and digital journalists say undermines public debate, democratic participation and personal safety.
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Technology‑facilitated gender‑based violence covers a range of harms enabled or amplified by digital tools: abusive messages, coordinated harassment campaigns, doxxing, nonconsensual sharing of intimate images, impersonation, cyberstalking and the use of manipulated images. In Zimbabwe, those harms have particular force because they intersect with entrenched social stigma, limited routes for redress and a small, close‑knit media and political community where reputations can be quickly damaged.
The ZHRC’s warning highlights how online abuse is no longer confined to private back channels. Public-facing women — reporters covering politics, civil‑society activists exposing corruption, women seeking or holding public office — face targeted campaigns that seek to degrade, intimidate and remove them from public life. The commission noted that the effect is often self‑censorship: a calculated choice to withdraw or to avoid certain topics rather than endure prolonged online attack.
Victims and observers say the consequences reach beyond the digital sphere. Online threats can translate into real‑world fear, job loss, mental‑health harm and social isolation. For journalists and activists, the risk is both personal and institutional: the chilling effect on reporting and advocacy erodes civic oversight and narrows the range of voices shaping public policy.
Zimbabwe has legal instruments that criminalize gender‑based violence, and officials point to these laws as the backbone of protection. But the ZHRC and rights advocates say enforcement remains weak when abuse is mediated by technology. Digital evidence presents practical hurdles for investigators; law enforcement capacity for cyber‑crime is limited; victims may be reluctant to report because they fear shame, retaliation or disbelief; and anonymity and cross‑border platforms complicate accountability.
Experts on digital safety note several recurring barriers in similar contexts: outdated statutes that do not name digital acts, lack of protocols for preserving and analyzing electronic evidence, insufficient training for police and prosecutors on online abuse, and weak partnerships between authorities and technology companies. When platforms are reluctant or slow to remove harmful content, victims can be left vulnerable for long stretches.
The commission’s statement did not propose a single legislative fix but stressed the need for coordinated action to protect women’s rights in the digital age. Rights groups and digital‑rights lawyers recommend a combination of legal reform, capacity building and public education. Practical steps often suggested include strengthening laws to explicitly cover technology‑facilitated harms, creating specialised cyber‑forensics units, training frontline officers to handle TFGBV complaints sensitively, and establishing clear, accessible reporting channels for survivors.
- Expand legal definitions so statutes clearly cover image‑based abuse, doxxing and coordinated online harassment;
- Invest in digital forensics and specialist prosecutors who can handle complex electronic evidence;
- Train police and courts in gender‑sensitive responses so survivors are taken seriously and protected from secondary victimisation;
- Work with social platforms to speed removal of abusive content and improve notice‑and‑takedown processes;
- Promote digital literacy and awareness campaigns that help women recognise, document and report online abuse;
- Fund survivor services that include psychological support, legal aid and secure channels for evidence preservation.
Beyond legal and technical remedies, the ZHRC’s message points to a cultural dimension: combatting TFGBV requires shifting norms about who belongs in public spaces and what constitutes acceptable behaviour online. That shift involves schools, media organisations, political parties, religious institutions and families. For a journalist who faces daily trolling for reporting on official misconduct, or for a young woman whose private images have been circulated without consent, policy measures are meaningful only if they are backed by social change that refuses to normalise harassment.
Internationally, advocates have urged a rights‑based approach that balances freedom of expression with the right to safety, and stresses prevention as much as prosecution. In Zimbabwe, the ZHRC’s intervention on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is a reminder that the digital environment should not become a parallel refuge for practices that deny women their fundamental rights.
As technology evolves, so will the tactics of abuse. The immediate task for policymakers and civil society in Zimbabwe is to ensure that enforcement mechanisms, institutional capacity and social supports keep pace — so that voices already at risk of being muted can continue to speak, report and participate without fear.
By News-room
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
