Ahead of the March 26 by-elections, Councillor Leah Chidamba found herself being the butt of countless crude jokes on social media.
A racy picture of Clr Chidamba, who was then running for
the Ward 20 seat in Chitungwiza, wearing a black crop top and tights, went
viral on Twitter and other social media platforms.
The picture elicited offensive commentary from scores of
social media users.
Many questioned her moral standing and fitness to stand for
public office.
Surprisingly, social media users deliberately ignored
another picture that she had posted on her social media accounts, where she was
resplendent in academic regalia after graduating from a local tertiary
institution.
Instead, it appeared everyone’s focus was on the first
picture.
Clr Chidamba, who eventually won the seat on a ZANU PF
ticket, had become a victim of what is termed doxxing.
This is a form of cyber violence involving the publishing
of private information about certain individuals on the Internet with malicious
intent.
Doxxing is ubiquitous on Zimbabwean social media.
Overtime, it has become the tool of choice used by
political adversaries to sully opponents. This tactic is, however,
disproportionately deployed against female candidates.
In Clr Chidamba’s case, doxxing was used to devastating
effect, ostensibly to push her out of the race or at least blunt her campaign
efforts.
But she told The Sunday Mail that she was never going to
allow online abuse to distract her from achieving her goal.
“I had big issues to deal with − peoples’ problems,” she said. “It’s sad that our societies have no sense of respect for private life and somehow reduce politics to a clothing debate.
“It’s so puerile. Politics cannot be reduced to that;
people’s welfare is far more important, don’t you think?”
She said she never paid much attention to the cyber
violence that came her way.
Had it not been for her tenacity and the will to fight, Clr
Chidamba could have found herself in the same position as scores of other women
politicians in Zimbabwe − walking away from it all.
A toxic combination of patriarchy, misogyny and violence in
Zimbabwean politics has ensured that it remains a space dominated by men.
With social media now a potent tool for political
campaigning, an increasing number of women politicians could find themselves
unable to participate on account of the rampant abuse they face on these
platforms.
Illustratively, only 18 percent of the candidates that
stood for local authority elections in the 2008 elections were women.
In 2013, it had dropped to 16 percent before plummeting to
14 percent in the last election. Clr Chidamba reckons that society views women
politicians as people of loose morals. Often their marital status is used as a
tool to discredit them, she said.
“People think women in politics are harlots, which is not
fair and untrue,” she said.
“I am happily married and I have a very supportive husband
who is always with me in everything I do. What people say, I don’t know where
they get it from and it’s such a shame.”
She said politics knows no gender and should be focused on
service to communities.
Her experience with cyberbullying has, however, failed to
break her spirit.
She said: “If you know what you want in life, put earmuffs
and go for it.
“People will always talk, especially those looking for
fame. Some people spread rumours out of jealousy and envy.
“One should be goal-oriented; without which you will never
go anywhere when you are faced with perilous times.”
She said social media was supposed to be a platform for
robust debate.
Instead, it has turned into a cesspit of fake news, abuse
and egregious violence against the fairer sex.
“In my thinking, people need to be busy and work towards
reducing social evils and improve lives of the general populace,” she added.
While social media has provided an alternative and
inexpensive communication tool for poorly-resourced female politicians, experts
say these platforms have also amplified online violence against the same women.
Social media has fashioned new types of gender-based
violence, while also precipitating gender inequality, hindering women’s and
girls’ full enjoyment of their human rights.
Faced with the harsh realities of dealing with cyber
violence, some aspiring female politicians have cowered into their cocoons out
of fear of being shamed, labelled or degraded on account of their physical
appearance.
For Zimbabwe Electoral Commission commissioner Mrs Netsai
Mushonga, the prevalence of violence against women on social media is a growing
problem.
Having experienced cyber bullying herself during the run up
to the 2018 elections, Commissioner Mushonga said social media users tend to
gang up against women, particularly those who speak their minds.
“There is also cyber bullying targeted at election managers
like myself and other female commissioners,” she said.
“In 2018, I was very active on social media in the run up
to the elections and after.
“I remember someone threatening to harm me physically.
“I think our chairperson also suffered the wrath of this
violence on social media.
“This is something that happens in the elections, which we
abhor.”
Labour, Economists and African Democrats party president Ms
Linda Masarira is a hyperactive social media user.
However, her posts on Twitter are often trailed by a
barrage of unsightly comments about her physical appearance.
She said authorities need to enforce the recently enacted
Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill in order to protect women.
“I do not foresee the elimination of cyber bullying
happening any time soon,” she said.
“But what we can do as mothers is to try and change how we
socialise our children, teach them to be peacemakers, to love their neighbours
and not to use insults to demean others.”
She said most abusers hide behind anonymity.
“We need to strengthen the legal framework through the
Cyber Security Bill so that tormenting someone on social media is criminalised.
“There is also need for advocacy on how the cyber laws work
because that is something a lot of people do not know and understand,” she
added.
A 2018 report at the 38th session of the Human Rights
Council by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Online Violence Against
Women notes that acts of online violence may force women to retreat from the
Internet.
It indicated that 28 percent of women who had suffered
ICT-based violence intentionally reduced their presence online.
“Other common outcomes are social isolation, whereby
victims or survivors withdraw from public life, including with family and
friends, and limited mobility, when they lose their freedom to move around
safely,” reads the report. Sunday Mail
0 comments:
Post a Comment