Fight online violence against women in politics
Most women complain of being harrassed on social media.
What you need to know:
- While women in politics deal with comments about their bodies, sexuality and identity, men encounter hate speech and satirical comments.
In June 2020, the Electoral Commission declared ‘scientific’ elections in Uganda. Political aspirants were forced to use digital spaces for campaigning. Unfortunately, women were compelled to operate in brutal spaces with targeted online abuse and violence.
Pollicy – a feminist civil society organisation working at the intersection of data and technology, released a report titled, ‘Amplified Abuse’, which points out that violence against women is a tool used to intimidate and exclude women from political participation and decision-making. This research revealed that during the 2021 general elections in Uganda, women candidates compared to their male counterparts were trolled, received sexualised violence and body shaming. There is an urgent need to end online abuse and also fight online violence against women politicians.
There is a need to ideate working solutions and address online violence against women politicians (OVAWP), especially when Uganda’s digital platforms are muddied with misinformation fuelled by the global pandemic. In the efforts to address OVAWP, Dr Ruth Ssekindi, the Uganda Human Rights Commission director for monitoring and inspections, said, “There are several laws to regulate computer usage like The Computer Misuse Act 2 of 2011 and reporting mechanisms are also available urging women to report any forms of abuse to police.”
Sadly, the Computer Misuse Act has been used to punish women who have been abused and violated online. It has also criminalised victims whose photos are leaked online under the offence of reckless publication of indecent content. But why should the law supposed to protect women be used to re-victimise and re-traumatise them?
We can empower women politicians to speak up against online abuse. Civil society organisation-led campaigns and government efforts can ensure synergistic reporting, fight for women’s political freedom. This can be a step towards including more women in politics and democracy.
The media should stop focusing on the victims and tell the whole story. It should bring men as transformative agents of change for the safe participation of women in politics. Political actors need to design projects that empower women politicians to mitigate violence. They should embark on a gendered response and stakeholder engagement for an inclusive political process in Uganda. The government needs to put in place a national online violence service helpline to help victims report violence. This will support prosecuting and arresting identified perpetrators.
Pollicy’s 2021 report on online violence against women similarly revealed that 18 per cent of the accounts belonging to women politicians that were monitored during the 2021 general elections, experienced sexual violence, compared to eight per cent of the accounts belonging to men.
Men and women experience online violence differently. While women in politics deal with comments about their bodies, sexuality and identity, men encounter hate speech and satirical comments. It also revealed that women politicians are more likely to experience online violence on Twitter compared to Facebook. It is time to start a constructive dialogue on various platforms, generate feedback and make consultations to set clear action steps and engage at all levels. We should support a reasonable and realistic course of action in halting OVAWP.
Marion Apio, Communication and advocacy leader at Pollicy
