Online abuse targeting Afghan women increased since Taliban takeover, says report

Online abuse targeting politically active women in Afghanistan has significantly increased since the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. According to a report by the Afghan Witness on Monday (Nov 20), amid the increasing restrictions on women under the Taliban rule, social media platforms such as X emerged increasing vital spaces for women to express their views, establish communities, and campaign for their rights.

"Crucially, these platforms have enabled activists and members of civil society to communicate causes to an international audience," the report said. "But these digital spaces are not risk-free: this rise in women's online advocacy is accompanied by an increase in online abuse and harassment which is impacting women's online participation and – even worse – their lives," the report added. 

The Afghan Witness collected and analysed more than 78,000 posts that politically targeted women between June 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021, and in the same period in 2022. The project also carried out interviews with Afghan women to gain deeper insight into the nature of the online abuse they experienced and how their lives were being impacted.

What are the findings?

As per the report, there was a 217 per cent increase in posts containing gendered hate speech and abuse terms and the names of prominent Afghan women from June-December 2021 and the same period in 2022. 

The report pointed out that the abuse was overwhelmingly sexualised. More than 60 per cent of the posts last year contained sexualised terms used to target Afghan women, with an 11.09% increase in such terms from 2021 to 2022. Women told investigators "how they received direct messages including pornographic content, sexually explicit photos and threats of sexual assault, rape, and death," the report added.

An impact on mental health

Women were also targeted with narratives of prostitution and promiscuity. The abuse was not just sexualised. The report also revealed that politically engaged Afghan women were targeted with religious, political, and ethnic abuse.

"When Afghan women took to the streets to protest for their rights, investigators detected a surge in abuse online, with female protesters and campaigners often the main targets," the report added.

Some of the women targeted said that their online and offline worlds were intertwined, adding they avoided real-life interactions as they feared their physical safety was at risk.

The abuse also impacted mental health, with women saying they felt fear, anxiety, stress, and low self-esteem. Their family relationships were also impacted, with concerns that online abuse could lead to “inter-familial violence”.  

(With inputs from agencies)