In MENA, TFGBV is widespread. According to a 2021 UN study, 60 percent of women respondents
and 70 percent of women activists and human rights reported feeling unsafe online. Given the
stigmas surrounding many SRHR topics such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs), sex outside
or marriage, abortions and same-sex relations, organisations, media outlets, activists and content
creators publishing and speaking about these topics online are also subjected to TFGBV. They face
threats of violence, insults, defamation, and harassment, among other forms of TFGBV aimed at
silencing them.
Gendered-based disinformation is one TFGBV strategy deployed to target and silence women and
gender non-conforming people, particularly activists, journalists, Human Rights Defenders (HRDs),
women’s rights defenders, and feminists, including those advocating for SRHR.
While previous research has extensively covered TFGBV and its different forms and uses, online
gender based violence (GBD), as a TFGBV tactic, still needs to better understood and investigated
in MENA, particularly considering generative AI developments and the rise of anti-rights actors
that deploy gendered disinformation, among other tactics, and silence those advocating for gender
equality.
This research contributes to the existing body of literature and addresses a key gap by uncovering
patterns in the tactics, narratives, and perpetrators of online GBV, conducted within the framework
of the Masarouna programme.