Women have been asked to be careful while using some social media and dating sites.
According to a new survey by the Africa Alliance of Young Men's Christian Association (AAYMCA), some of these sites and social media platforms were found to be avenues of gender-based violence and cyberbullying.
The findings which were released during a forum that brought together government, civil society organizations and the media in Nairobi revealed that women advocated for the need to have policies to guard against the harmful use of technology.
[caption caption="An illustration of the dark web"]
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AAYMCA operations executive Purity Kiguatha stated that 75 percent of the women who took the survey reiterated it was wrong to inflict physical, sexual and emotional harm on a woman or girl.
Forty nine percent admitted they or someone they know had experienced online abuse.
Additionally, a whopping 45 percent agreed that to take or share pictures or nude videos of someone without consent amounted to physical and sexual abuse.
Kiguatha reported: "Although 31 percent stated they have never shared material of girls being abused on social media, 69 percent stated they had seen photos, videos, audio clips and messages of women being abused online."
The AAYMCA operations executive further added that at least 24 percent of the people who took part in the survey admitted to having shared the videos and photos.
Fifty four percent stated that they felt people used social media to harm others because it's easy to do so without fear of being punished.
[caption caption="An illustration of cyber bullying"]
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"When asked if they have ever reported incidents of abuse that have taken place online, 77 percent stated no," Kiguatha remarked.
