article · Open Research Africa
Gender-based violence affects university students across Africa, and social media platforms frequently amplify this harm. Increased access to mobile phones and the internet has facilitated various forms of digital abuse, including online harassment, stalking, cyberbullying, and non-consensual sharing of intimate images. These abuses predominantly affect female and vulnerable students, threatening their health, well-being, and academic progress while impeding wider gender equality. Online abuse persists due to prevailing social gender norms, inadequate digital literacy, weak legal protections, and insufficient institutional mechanisms. Addressing this challenge requires collaborative engagement among policymakers, higher education institutions, civil society organisations, technology companies, and student bodies. Recommended interventions include gender-sensitive digital literacy programmes, robust regulatory frameworks to ensure perpetrator accountability, and university-led support infrastructure such as counselling and digital incident reporting systems, transforming digital platforms into safer spaces.
Digital harassment and cyberstalking on university campuses directly undermine student safety, mental health, and academic achievement, disproportionately affecting female students. Establishing coordinated institutional responses, modern reporting systems, and stronger legal protections helps universities and public authorities uphold human rights, maintain safer online educational environments, and advance gender equality across African higher education communities.
The abstract outlines policy strategies rather than a commercial product, though it identifies potential demand for university-based support systems, particularly computerised incident reporting tools and digital literacy training programmes. Target users include university administrators, student support services, and technology companies partnering with educational institutions. As a policy brief presenting strategic recommendations, these initiatives remain at an early, conceptual stage, requiring software development and institutional adoption before real-world operational deployment.
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Gender-based violence (GBV) is a problem faced by university students across Africa, with social media becoming a common environment where the problem is made visible and can worsen. But with the proliferation of mobile phones and internet access, the platforms have revolutionized the way students connect but have also created opportunities for different types of GBV such as digital harassment, stalking, revenge porn, and cyberbullying, targeting female and vulnerable students. The short-term effects can pose a threat to health and well-being, but the damage also impedes progress toward gender equality and academic achievement. This policy brief investigates how digital platforms can perpetuate gender-based violence among university students in Africa. It is based on recent research and sees social media as a source of risk and a possible venue for action. Social gender norms, poor internet literacy, limited statutory protections and inadequate institutional remedies continue to be normalized and are also part of the conditions for online GBV. The solution requires joint action by politicians, educational institutions, Civil Society Organizations, technical businesses and student groups. Universities, in contrast, can assist victims in accessing help by means of support systems which can include counselling services and computerized reporting systems. Social media, when used with caution, can be a tool to prevent, not perpetuate, gender-based violence. Strategic and coordinated approaches that address the root causes of online GBV can go a long way toward reducing its adverse impact on university students in Africa. The brief calls for gender-sensitive internet literacy campaigns, strong legal and regulatory institutions to hold abusers accountable, and awareness efforts to create safer online environments. It is intended to support policymakers, researchers, and development practitioners to protect digital spaces and promote gender equality across the continent.
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DOI: 10.12688/openresafrica.16875.1
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