Every year from the 25th of November to the 10th of December the 16 days are dedicated to campaign on ending violence against women and girls. This year, the call is to unite to end digital violence against all women and girls. This editorial focuses on impact of online abuse that derails gender equality on land rights.
As Kenya moves toward gender equality in land ownership, online abuse threatens to undo decades of progress. Land in Kenya is security, identity, and power. Owning land is equivalent to economic independence and social dignity. However, as Kenya strives to close the gender gap in land ownership, a new and insidious threat is mushrooming; Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV).
TFGBV refers to the use of digital platforms such as social media, messaging apps, and online forums to cause harm like harassment, intimidation or discredit a person based on their gender. Often dismissed as harmless, its consequences are real for women asserting their land rights since it is a weapon of control, reinforcing patriarchy and silencing dissenting voices that demand justice.
Despite constitutional guarantees of equality, women still face challenges when they claim land ownership. The 2022 Kenya Demographic Housing Survey report shows that 75% of women do not own agricultural land and 93% do not own non-agricultural land, a worsening trend from 2014.
The initiatives to digitize land records in Kenya are ongoing with partial roll out. Theestablishment of the National Land Information Management System (NLIMS) provides for a centralized digital platform to manage all land records, transactions, and services. The objects of digitization are to enhance transparency and accountability in land transactions, do away with manual inefficiencies that breed corruption in paper-based systems, secure land records against loss, forgery, fraud, and improve the ease of transacting and accessibility of land services for citizens.
From the forgoing, use of technology can not be gain said in land management. However, TFGBV is a threat to women claiming their land rights. Digital Harassment is a barrier to women seeking land justice. Women who challenge customary norms or pursue legal claims for land often face online smear campaigns, anonymous trolls circulate defamatory posts questioning their morality or branding them greedy and, in some instances, they end up attacked physically because of doxing. These attacks erode credibility in justice forums where social reputation still influences outcomes.
Kenya’s Constitution at Article 27, 40 and 60 calls for elimination of gender discrimination in land and property rights, yet customary practices and digital violence undermine these protections. While the Cybercrimes Act criminalizes online harassment, enforcement is weak, and few cases reach conviction.
It is important to integrate digital safety in land rights programs by training women on cybersecurity and reporting mechanisms; strengthening enforcement by treating TFGBV as a serious crime and not a mere social discomfort; community sensitization to avert or challenge patriarchal attitudes fuelling online abuse; and lobby tech platforms accountability by setting rapid response and rules to curb harmful content targeting women online.
Protecting women from TFGBV is not just a gender issue, it is a land justice imperative. Kenya must act now to ensure technology empowers but not oppressive!
