Kano based nongovernmental advocacy group, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has decried the spate of violence against women on the internet, describing it as an infringement to their human rights.
The group in a research document presented on Wednesday identified facebook, Twitter, Instagram and viber as major social media platforms where women are being subjected to various forms of gender based abuses via unsolicited messages, nude images and pornographic videos.
Addressing the press on Wednesday during the research validation meeting organized by the centre at Aminu Kano centre for research and development, mambayya house, CITAD’s training coordinator, Malam Mohammad Abdullahi Yakasai stated that online violence has discouraging effects to women’s participation on the internet space despite its importance to their economic and educational lives.
‘’It was realized that there are too much online violence against women which deny them from benefitting the use of internet like their male counterpart. The research was conducted in order to find the reasons behind that, and the ways that would ensure that women are given proper opportunity so that they will be able to benefit from the use of internet’’ he said.
Maryam Ado Haruna, the programme assistant gender and internet advocacy CITAD described the use of internet as an extension to Human right to freedom of expression urging women to assert their right without fear of intimidation.
‘’Women are marginalized politically, economically and even in the use of internet they are marginalized. It seem internet is just for men not for women in northern Nigeria, even though it is not included in the universal declaration of human rights but there are certain things that show that internet is a right to freedom of expression, you can use the internet to express yourself, you can use the internet as a tool for education but there are certain factors that are carried out by men which make women not to be able to benefit from the resources.
She however cautioned them to be conscious of their privacy and personal security so as to safe guard their profiles from mischief makers prowling the internet.
