16 Days of Activism began last Friday, 25 November. It takes place annually, and one of the major goals of 16 Days of Activism, aside from raising awareness, is to help empower people so they know when their rights are being violated and what their options are if they experience violence or abuse.

Online Gender-Based Violence, like physical and emotional GBV can take many forms, however not much is known about it. According to Global Citizen, online GBV can be defined as “a form of gender injustice and discrimination that takes place in online spaces. This type of GBV can include stalking, harassment, bullying, and unsolicited pornography, among other actions.” Today, we discuss the different types of Online Gender-Based Violence, with a link below to various organisations you can reach out to if you need help, support or counseling.

1) Cyberbullying:

In this context, cyberbullying refers to targeting someone based on their gender. The bullying can take place on social media through comments, direct messages, posts, stories, videos etc. It can also take place using any other type of digital technology platform.

2) Cyberstalking:

This refers to repeatedly using technology to stalk someone online, or  stalk their social media accounts. The aim of cyberstalking is to try and scare, intimidate or defame someone.

3) Doxxing:

Doxxing is when private or very personal information gets purposefully revealed or ‘leaked’ online.

4) Trolling:

Posting content to purposefully upset people or get a reaction from them.

5) Deepfakes:

This is a type of fake AI generated photo used to shame and disregard women. This can be very dangerous because of how ‘real’ it can look in some cases.

6) Non-consensual pornography:

This is when sexual photo’s are shared without the person’s consent.

• If you’d like support or counseling for any form of Gender-Based Violence, not just online GBV click here. This is a blog post we did about 5 great organisations helping to combat GBV in South Africa.