The use of technology has experienced exponential growth in Somalia, and online users and access to the internet have been gaining momentum, with an increasing number of people turning to social media platforms as a key source for the latest news and information.

While more people make their way onto the internet, it is no surprise that the amount of electronic violence against women also rises. It is not a new phenomenon in the other world but is considered part of the violence and discrimination that women and girls face offline and online throughout their lives. While awareness is rising about using secure and safe Internet in Somalia and there is limited data on online harassment and violence, the problem is often overlooked in discussions of violence against women and is not perceived as a serious form of violence or an issue in Somalia, and women do not often speak about online harassment and violence.

Given the reality in Somalia and the practical experiences of some of our staff with online harassment, we decided to investigate the extent of this issue beyond our office in November 2019. We conducted a small survey in Puntland State, the largest and longest-functioning state in Somalia, focusing on the experience and impact of online harassment on university female students aged between 18 and 35, who are particularly vulnerable to online harassment and abuse due to their extensive use of the internet and social media platforms.

We have asked if they had personally experienced any of these forms of cyber harassment: blackmailing, non-consensual access and distribution of personal information, impersonation, defamation, threats, gender-based bullying, hacking of personal accounts, recording without consent, identity theft, sexual harassment, or cyber stalking.

The survey’s key kindings

1. 81.3% of survey respondents said they use social media networks, and it is the most common platform for online harassment. 49.3% of the survey respondents had been stalked and harassed through messaging apps, while 39% said their online accounts have been hacked at least once and 33.1% more than once.
2. 91% of the respondents don’t report online harassment to law enforcement institutions because they believe their complaints won’t be taken seriously, and they all respond by saying that reporting harassment to the police would be a joke.
3. 36.1% of the survey respondents have witnessed a girl being bullied or harassed online, while 42% said they knew someone who had taken a break from social media after being harassed online.
4. Although the survey did not categorize the abusers, 80% of the respondents said that online abusers are men, who can be either a partner or ex-partner, friend or ex-friend, family member, or anonymous person. One of the respondents has shared with us a story where the abuser lured an unsuspecting victim into an online relationship and coerced her into sharing nude photos and videos, which he later used for sustained sexual assault against the victim.
5. 78.2% of the respondents express concern about the potential consequences of online harassment, which they believe can lead to suicide, physical assault, emotional distress, and women leaving education and online spaces due to reputational damage or fear for their personal safety. For instance, the majority of survey participants recall a woman who, after her partner posted a nude video online in 2018 and it went viral on social media, suffered reputational damage and ultimately took her own life.
6. 73.2% of respondents do not know how to prevent it or have little understanding of the kind of protection or guidelines that the social media platform offers against the abuser due to poor digital literacy and language barriers.
7. Online harassment can affect both men and women, but the survey respondents perceive it as particularly painful for women. While all women face online harassment, they believe that those in journalism, social work, public positions, and popular or active social media platforms are more vulnerable. Practically, some of the respondents proved this by showing us the social media pages of some popular women in politics whose posts met with offensive and abusive comments.

What can we do to prevent online harassment?

We identified the following brief recommendations as the quickest way to address the online harassment, combining suggestions from survey respondents, digital rights experts, and a desk review by our team:-

1. Recognition of online violence against women and consideration of offline violence as a larger barrier for women and girls to exercising their full range of human rights.
2. To end online harassment against women, it is necessary to ensure that there are legal measures in place, as well as increase advocacy and awareness-raising among the general public.
3. When online harassment occurs, many victims feel vulnerable and are unaware of the actions that they can take to address the issue or unfamiliar with the ways that they can report complaints. Due to this, it is increasingly critical for women to develop cyber security skills, learn about online threats and how to protect their information and devices, and support women in developing the skills and knowledge they need to ensure they are secure and empowered digital citizens.
4. Although the survey was the first of its kind in Somalia and small in scale, only conducted in Puntland State due to budget restrictions, a larger and more national study is indispensable to understand the extent of the problem.

Click here to download the full report.