By Lenah Bosibori
Pepe Mkanjala is very active on Facebook, and sometimes she uses her WhatsApp because of the nature of her work which requires her to have both an online and physical presence. In 2022 Mkanjala vied for the seat of Director Women Youth and Mobilization at Amani National Party. But the kind of trolls she received online were unbearable and painful to her and her family.
“I was widowed at the age of 25 before I started campaigning, but to many harassers online they said I sacrificed my husband to get famous, and yet my husband had died long ago before I even joined politics,” said Mkanjala during an interview.
Women are 27 times more likely to be harassed online than men. This is according to a report by the African Development Bank. The report suggests that up to 70 percent of women have endured cyber violence.
Mkanjala adds that sometimes people go up to the extent of using the death of her husband to try to bring her down. “One person said that I am a prostitute who is always sleeping with the bosses and they photoshopped my photos to try by all means to bring me down,” she adds.
At first, Mkanjala says that she used to feel bad and cry a lot but nowadays she confronts them until they have decided not to troll her because she doesn’t care anymore.
“Sometimes the trolls are guns for hire and if one is soft, she will shy away because harassers are not polite, someone said that my kids had big heads,” she adds.
According to Mkanjala, the trolls and insults have been many, at some point forcing her to get a support team. She adds that it is very hard especially for married women because there are some things that are very painful which can even spoil someone’s marriage. 
“I am a fighter, before, it was very hard for me but it has reached a point that the harassers are also tired, at some point maybe because we are not in any campaign mood, maybe they will be more in 2027 when we will be having our general elections,” she added.
Ephraim Muchemi Deputy Manager for the SAFE Initiative in the East Africa region at the International Record and Exchanges Board (IREX) says that the challenges women face online are many.
“Cyberbullying is the most and it has got an emotional context. When one is bullied online, it is different from when it is physical. In physical bullying, one is able to deal with the person one-on-one. In the digital space however, the problem is that you don’t know how many people are there because you cannot be able to see them, you don’t know where they are, and so even from an emotional state, it adds anxiety to top of it,” said Muchemi.
Muchemi adds that the other troll is cyberstalking which he says is transforming from the online space to the physical space. “This is where you find passive people just observing you online and the active ones take the trolls to physical space,” he adds.
“One could be having a presence online but not being aware when the online trolls are coming to the physical space, the emotional connection among women is a much bigger issue than when it comes to men,” he adds.
Muchemi encourages people to focus more on preventive measures that are; creating layers of safety in advance like digital literacy.” It is unfortunate that our digital literacy in sub-Saharan Africa is extremely poor to the point whereby people don’t know how to read a website, or what a cookie or a stoker ware are, this is something that needs to be fixed and that is one of the digital literacies that people need to know,” adds Muchemi.
He adds that people should be aware of their situational awareness, they need to know when one’s phone misbehaves, which helps to reduce suspicions because one will end up having a sense of control.
“Digital literacy will help eliminate the majority of the digital attacks which are being carried out especially where someone is trying to take away an account,” he adds.
Focusing on self-awareness helps one to know when to react especially to situations and how one tends to be when being attacked. “Self-awareness can help you gain a sense of control before reacting from an emotional state, if someone experiences a troll, it will help him/her to pause a bit before reacting,” he adds.
This according to Muchemi ends up creating one’s mechanisms to cope if ever attacked, others can create a support system ready to support them. “A support system gives you a sense of comfort and control, you realize that you have a team ready to defend you instead of feeling alone,” he adds.
He adds that the support system will also help people to create a shield around them when being attacked, the shield gives you a space to breathe. “When building a support, include both genders so that they can offer the shield,” he adds.
Further Muchemi emphasizes a need for education among the community adding that knowledge and information sharing is very important because it becomes a norm, “Let ladies take the lead by creating safe spaces and take more roles as trainers,” he adds.
