Parly caucus warns of rising digital violence
Brilliant Manje | Monday December 15, 2025 06:01
The caucus warned that phones and social media are now a fast-becoming new crime scene for women and children. The caucus was held under the theme, 'United to end digital violence against all women and children'.
Lawmakers and rights advocates have warned that gender-based violence is rapidly migrating from the street and home to smartphones, classrooms and social media platforms, leaving women and children exposed to new forms of exploitation. Speakers told Parliament that while the country has made strides in criminalising abuse offline, harmful behaviour such as cyberbullying, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, online grooming and sextortion are growing faster than public awareness and law-enforcement capacity to deal with such ills.
Chairperson of the Parliamentary Caucus on women, Helen Manyeneng, stressed that digital violence rarely starts on screen, but often mirrors existing power imbalances in families, relationships and communities, allowing perpetrators to extend control and humiliation beyond physical spaces. Girls and young women were highlighted as especially vulnerable, with some cases beginning as friendly chats on social media before escalating into coercion, blackmail or in-person assault when victims are lured to meetings or threatened with exposure.
She explained that such cases are treated as nothing, but they cause immense pain, and as a result, most of the victims end up taking their own lives because they cannot cope with the pressure. She even highlighted a case where three girls were caught at the airport earlier this month, almost getting kidnapped after they were lured with job opportunities abroad.
Manyeneng further cautioned that children are increasingly targeted through online game platforms and live streaming services, where offenders hide behind fake profiles to share sexual content or explicit images. She noted that many parents, guardians and even teachers lack digital literacy to understand how such platforms work, making it harder to spot signs such as secretive phone use, sudden changes in behaviour or unexplained money and gifts.
She urged everyone to revisit their use of social media, either at school or at home, to avoid causing harm unknowingly and unintentionally.
Goitseone Ngono, Senior Assistant Commissioner and Director of Gender and Child Protection Services, explained that their duty as the police is to protect lives and properties through the Penal Code, Domestic Violence Act, Children’s Act, Maintenance Enforcement Act, Anti-human Trafficking, Cyber Crime and Computer Related Act. 'We deal with physical assault, attempted murder, insults or common nuisance, sexual abuse, digital violence, which includes child pornography, criminal trespass, cyber-stalking, defamation of character, failure to provide necessities, property damage, crimes daily while performing our duties of protection as the police', said Ngono.
Children and women are the ones mostly affected by high statistics. In 2022, less than 1% of victims were males, and in 2024, 6% of gender based violence related offences were males, showing that even men and boys can become victims of GBV. This forced the police to re-inspect themselves to channel and prioritise resources in fighting gender-based violence.
Ngono stressed that they teach their officers to deal with such cases by writing standard operating procedures when they come across them, and that they also use forensic technology, which helps them with DNA and Cyber. She also stated that they processed more than 2000 suspected reports on digitally facilitated gender-based violence, in which some of the cases evolved into investigations.
Speakers emphasised the need to educate and sensitise the public about gender-based violence and raise awareness on the consequences of harmful actions that cause and manifest themselves as gender-based violence. They also cautioned the public that violence is violence, therefore must be reported, and there is no reason big enough to make an excuse about it.