By Ali Hamad - Zanzibar

Safia* (not her real name) is a university student in Zanzibar. When her student loan was delayed, she decided to sell her smartphone and temporarily use a cheaper one until her funds were disbursed. Before selling the phone, she deleted all personal data, including private photos, believing they were gone for good.

A week later, Safia received a shocking call from the buyer. He had retrieved her private photos and threatened to share them publicly unless she paid him a sum of money. Terrified of the shame and stigma, she complied. However, his demands kept increasing until she could no longer afford to pay.

The day after she informed him she had no more money, he followed through on his threat, sharing her private photos in multiple WhatsApp groups. Devastated, Safia fainted upon learning what had happened. The ordeal led to her suspension from university for alleged misconduct, while her family disowned her in disgrace. Her mother was so distraught that she was hospitalized with high blood pressure.

Thanks to the swift intervention of the Tanzania Police Force, the perpetrator was arrested. While this did not undo the damage already done to Safia, it sent a strong message that those who engage in Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TF-GBV) will be held accountable.

The Growing Threat of TF-GBV in Tanzania

Safia’s story is just one of many emerging cases of TF-GBV, which is rapidly increasing in Zanzibar and Tanzania. According to UNFPA, TF-GBV is defined as “an act of violence perpetrated by one or more individuals that is committed, assisted, aggravated, and amplified, in part or fully, through the use of information and communication technologies or digital media, against a person based on their gender.”

Against this background, in commemorating 16 Days against GBV, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development Gender Elders and Children, organised a symposium on Technology Facilitated Gender-based Violence. The goal of the symposium was to break the silence in the area of TF-GBV in Zanzibar.

Opening the symposium, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Gender Elders and Children Zanzibar, Hon. Anna Athanas, commended UNFPA for its initiative to break the silence around TF–GBV in Zanzibar.

She said the use of technology and the increase in online platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Signal, WeChat, and others we are not familiar with and the increase in the amount of time that women, men, girls, and boys use the internet has increased the risk of acts of humiliation caused by technology.

The deputy minister added that abuse caused by technology, like other abuses or even more than other forms of abuse, hurts women and girls, has physical, mental, and economic effects, and is worse because it has no boundaries.

She added “I think you will agree with me that when we started our fight against Gender-based Violence, we did not give the TF-GBV the weight it deserved. We assumed that it was not a big problem when the truth is that we are a part of the world that is a village, and we are also users of technology”.

“Although we are a little late”, she added, “I think now is the right time to make use of the 16 Days against GBV forums to discuss the best way to protect our young women and men, our children, and ourselves from acts of abuse fueled by technology”.

In her remarks on behalf of UNFPA, Dr. Azzah Nofly, UNFPA Liaison Officer Zanzibar, said UNFPA hoped that the Symposium on TF -GBV would discuss the problem of violence and sexual abuse caused by technology in its breadth and come up with recommendations for the government that will help improve existing strategies, policies, and laws so that they can fully address the problem in preventing and dealing with it when it happens. In addition,

“we hope that this Conference will spark a debate among you GBV stakeholders and come up with the best way of dealing with TF-GBV in the isles and Tanzania at large”.

Presenting a paper on the Technology Facilitated GBV in Zanzibar Policy and Legislation

Senior Officer from the Office of DPP Mohammed Ali said the TF-GBV is not covered in its broadest form in Tanzania laws and policies. He said some provisions can be used to prosecute perpetrators, but most emerging issues are not well explained and thus leave some gaps for perpetrators to go escort-free.

Maja Hansen, Technical Advisor on Gender Equality with UNFPA, said globally, the TF-GBV problem is growing and needs some mitigation activities in all stages. She advised that one of the necessary measures is to strengthen and enforce legislative measures and increase digital literacy among women and girls while promoting engagement in science, technology, and math (STEM). She said stakeholders should emphasize multi-stakeholder prevention and response, including regional collaboration, because of the fragile nature of the problem, which has no boundaries and can be perpetrated beyond the country’s jurisdiction area.

While the Office of Chief Government Statistician in Zanzibar has shown good progress in reporting Administrative GBV data monthly, unfortunately, the TF-GBV cases are not captured anywhere in these statistics.

Participants recommended that there should be increased efforts in providing awareness on this emerging GBV issue in line with strengthening the existing policies and laws to make sure that the victims of TF-GBV like Safia get justice and perpetrators are convicted.

Media Inquiries:

Dr. Warren Bright,

UNFPA Communications Analyst,

United Republic of Tanzania

Mobile: +255 764 43 44 45 

Email: bwarren@unfpa.org