14/08/2026
A woman in Nigeria does not have to step outside to experience gender-based violence.
Sometimes, it finds her on her phone.
In her inbox.
On her timeline.
45% of Nigerian women have experienced cyberstalking.
And cyberstalking is just one form of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), a growing crisis that includes non-consensual image sharing, sextortion, coordinated harassment, cyberstalking and misogynistic abuse.
At a National Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Technology-Facilitated GBV in Abuja, ActionAid Nigeria highlighted the scale of the problem, noting that journalists, activists, politicians and influencers are among those most targeted.
As Nigeria's digital space grows, so must the safeguards that protect the people using it.
Because online violence is still violence.
It can affect a person's safety, livelihood, mental health, reputation and ability to participate freely in public life. And too often, because it happens behind a screen, it is dismissed as "just the internet."
It isn't.
Nigeria has laws, including the Cybercrimes Act and the VAPP Act. But laws without effective enforcement, accessible reporting mechanisms, public awareness and institutional accountability cannot adequately protect survivors.
**Safety should not end when a woman picks up her phone.**
We need a digital environment where women and girls can participate, speak, organise, and exist without being targeted for it.
Online violence is real.
Its consequences are real.
And our response must be real too.
Sources:
ActionAid Nigeria
Global Voices
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