A
South African digital media analyst and feminist, Mich Atagana, said that the
Internet was unfair to African women.
In
an interview, Atagana, a former journalist, lecturer and
now a brand manager, said many people had transferred societal negative
perceptions about women to the Internet. This, she said, was affecting the way
such people treat women on the digital space.
“Women
in the society are expected to behave a certain way and that has been
transferred to online. This has always been a problem; only that it is
happening on the world stage,” she said.
According
to her, there is a special scrutiny of the online behaviours of woman as a
result of their gender. She said that there had been rising “examples of these
across the world in recent times.”
Atagana
pointed out rising cases “revenge porn and slut shamming” as indications that
women would continue to suffer unfair attacks on the Internet unless there was
a change of perceptions.
“A
study by the Pew Research Centre found that ‘young women between the ages of 18
and 24 experience harassment at disproportionately high levels’ with 26 per
cent of them saying they have been stalked online. Among them, 25 per cent said
they were targets of sexual harassment.
“A
South African writer, Sian Ferguson, probably put it in best perspective when
she recently wrote: ‘I have only a handful of places on the Internet where I
know I can be my true self without being disrespected, silenced or trolled,’”
she said.
Atagana,
who has done a lot of works on women in the digital world, said the unfair
treatment meted to female had defeated the primary principle of the Internet –
democracy of views.
“The
Internet was supposed to democratise all voices regardless of age, gender, race
or belief. What has emerged since those days is a disturbing trend for this
anonymity to be misused. Quite often, this abuse manifest in being used to
provide camouflage for some people to harass and threaten women for daring to
give a frank opinion in an online forum,” she noted.
On
the risks this portends, she said the society would breed a generation of women
who would grow up with a low self-esteem.
She
said, “Aside from the humiliation, it affects a young person’s self-esteem.
They will live in a world where they have been painted as something they are
not on the world stage. We seem to have entered a world where a culture of
humiliation is okay. And no one is stopping it.
“Young
girls are being taught to be ashamed and keep quiet because the world will not
defend them. Young girls, in the world over, are having their sexuality used as
a weapon against them. This is tragic.”
Atagana,
who currently works for Google South Africa, said a lot of woman had started
dumping the Internet to avoid unwarranted harassment.
“We
cannot escape the Internet. But more and more women are either choosing to
leave or tempering their expressions. It is hard to explore the full
possibilities of the Internet, contribute to valid conversation as well share
your world when someone might use these against you because of your gender.
“The
cost can be high for women on the receiving end of such attacks. An Academic,
Anita Sarkeesian, had to flee her home after she received death threats for
criticising the depiction of women in games,” she said.
In
workplace, online harassment could cause a low productivity among the
womenfolk.
“Where
a woman is branded as ‘that person,’ it affects her ability to go about daily
life. These experiences are hurtful and insulting and for young people it can
be demoralising,” she said.
While
she admitted that the challenges were not limited to Africa, she said that discriminatory
traditions had made them more rampant in the continent.
She,
however, noted that some platforms were already working towards making the
Internet a safe place for all.
“Some social media platforms allow users to block abusers, restrict them
from making comments and remove fake profiles,” she said, adding that only an
attitudinal change would give an enduring solution.
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