Social media connects people, creating a free market of ideas.
However, a bad idea by a 40-year-old man pretending to be a wealthy South African left a 21-year-old girl debating whether to have sex with the man she detests or watch her nudity shared online.
“I considered suicide when the man I had known via Facebook threatened to leak my nude photos if I refused to sleep with him. We used to share romantic conversation and images on trust, but I didn’t know I was playing into his hands,” she told a court in Blantyre.
The love at a click bore confusion on December 4 2017, when the self-styled George Gaunt forced her to take a bus from Lilongwe to Blantyre to meet him.
“We agreed to meet at Wenela Bus Depot and proceed to his preferred lodge, but the arrangement confused me. I reported him to the police next door, who arrested him on arrival at Wenela,” she narrated.
Third grade magistrate Catherine Magwira slapped Alex Kachimanga, 40, with one month’s imprisonment, but suspended the sentence after ordering him to delete the photos and show good conduct for a year.
That was in 2017, a year before Malawian lawmakers enacted the Cyber Security Act to end online crime.
The court convicted Kachimanga of “conduct likely to cause breach of peace”.
The digital space has become a minefield for gender-based violence (GBV), notwithstanding its benefits.
The narrow escape amplifies calls for efforts to help women and girls understand how to identify, prevent and report rights violations that flourish online.
Uniting to end digital-driven abuse is the crux of this year’s 16 Days of Activism against GBV.
This comes when the digital space is awash with nudes, fake stories and obscenities that dehumanise, silence and vilify women and girls.
Gender activist Maggie Kathewera Banda says three in four women in Malawi experience cyberbullying.
“This points to growing hostility toward women and girls as digital platforms are being used to intimidate, harass and silence them,” she said at the launch of the 16 Days of Activism in Balaka.
Kathewera Banda asked authorities to make laws work.
“We have good laws, but what remains is implementation,” she stated, calling for accountability from law enforcers and stiff penalties.
Violence against women and girls affects one in three women, the United Nations reports.
According to UN Women, it is “a global human rights emergency that must stop” 30 years after the world adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action—the most progressive international agreements on women’s rights to date.
As GBV spikes online, Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Mary Navitcha says a third of Malawian children have experienced cyberbullying.
She urges tech-savvy Malawians to use digital tools for innovation—not violations—as government and partners work to ensure women, girls and children are protected online and offline.
However, the fight against GBV remains thin online.
Meanwhile, bullies exploit their female targets, violating their privacy, dignity, bodily autonomy and integrity.
In September, singer Tuno announced that she had quit music in protest against body-shaming that overshadowed her art.
She asked Malawians not to cry when she dies, declaring: “I am tired of you, always finding fault in everything that I do. The whole week, all you have done is body-shame me, insult me and belittle me.
“The few people who showed me love kept me going. I will not tolerate this.”
In a nation so united that its backlash can force influencers and global media empires to block toxic comments or pull down their pages, not many women and girls can stand the unwarranted heat.
Many cases go unreported due to shame and low awareness. Others lead to HIV infections.
National Aids Commission (NAC) chief executive officer Beatrice Matanje says GBV—especially in digital spaces where harmful messages spread quickly and widely—increases the risk of HIV infection and violence against persons living with the virus that destroys body defences to the deadly disease.
“I call on all of us—women, men and young people—to create safe and respectful online and offline environments. Let us reject cyberbullying, challenge stigma and protect the dignity and rights of every person,” she says.
Online violence worsens misinformation, stigma, discrimination and psychological harm. This pushes people away from essential services, including prevention, treatment, care and support.
Recently, the State dragged a social media influencer to court for disclosing another person’s HIV status without consent, which could lead to a K5 million fine or five years imprisonment if found guilty.
