As Nigeria deepens its push towards digital transformation, a new and dangerous frontier of gender-based violence has emerged, one that lawmakers, regulators, and technology companies have not adequately confronted. Digital violence, once dismissed as “harmless online behaviour,” now threatens the safety, participation, and dignity of women and girls across the country.
Yet, as global conversations intensify under the theme “Digital violence is real violence. It is a declaration that the harm inflicted through the screen has crossed the boundaries of anonymity, geography, and time. It is a reminder that despite the promise of technology, the digital world has become the newest frontier for gendered harm, echoing and sometimes amplifying centuries old inequities.
Therefore, there is #NoExcuse for online abuse. One truth is becoming impossible to ignore: the harm women face online is no less real and often more far-reaching than the violence they endure offline.
Based on my experience in digital governance, cybersecurity, and national information systems, I have seen how technology amplifies existing inequalities. For many Nigerian women, social media, messaging platforms, and even workplace digital tools have become unsafe spaces, filled with harassment, impersonation, threats, sextortion, deepfake abuse, and cyberstalking.
Victims withdraw from online learning, political discourse, job opportunities, entrepreneurship, and public engagement. Some change their phone numbers repeatedly. Others abandon professional platforms entirely.
Digital violence does not end when the device locks. It travels into women’s careers, mental health, family life, and sense of safety.
Despite rising case numbers documented by civil society organisations, Nigeria’s current legal and policy frameworks remain inadequate. Digital violence sits at the intersection of cybersecurity, digital rights, justice, and national development but is treated as an afterthought.
If Nigeria expects women to participate meaningfully in Politics, Digital entrepreneurship, Public leadership, STEM fields, Journalism, and Civic advocacy, then digital safety must be a national priority.
Technology does not create misogyny; it multiplies it. Without robust safeguards, online spaces will continue to reproduce the very power structures Nigeria claims it is trying to dismantle.
Beyond harassment and bullying, more sophisticated threats are emerging, such as Deepfake blackmail of young girls and public figures, AI generated sexual content used for intimidation, Non-consensual image circulation, and Data-driven targeting of women activists and Algorithmic bias that exposes women to harmful content.
These tools make abuse easier, anonymity stronger, and evidence harder to track leaving victims with fewer options for justice.
As a digital transformation specialist, I believe Nigeria must urgently update its cybercrime, digital rights, and data protection frameworks to address this new reality. The current pace of reform does not match the velocity of technological harm.
To protect women and strengthen trust in our digital ecosystem, Nigeria must commit to Gender responsive digital policy reforms. Laws must explicitly recognise digital violence as a prosecutable form of gender-based violence, and provide better investigative capacity for law enforcement. Cyberstalking and extortion cases fail because many investigators lack the tools and training to trace digital trails. Therefore, there must be Stronger accountability for tech platforms operating in Nigeria. Companies must respond more quickly to reports and make their safety algorithms more transparent. While we will put in place National digital safety education in Schools, workplaces, and communities, digital safety should be treated as an essential life skill, not optional knowledge.
Survivor centred reporting and redress systems. Victims must have quick, stigma-free channels to report cases and seek justice. Nigeria cannot continue to build its digital economy on unsafe foundations.
The fight against digital violence is not merely about punishing offenders; it is about protecting women’s voices, opportunities, and freedom to participate in a digital Nigeria.
A society where women are shamed, threatened, or blackmailed into silence cannot innovate.
A digital economy that exposes half its population to violence cannot grow sustainably.
A nation that ignores online abuse undermines its own democratic future.
If we are bold enough, technology can become a pathway to equity, not a weapon of oppression. But that future will only emerge if Nigeria acknowledges a simple truth. Digital violence is real violence, and there is absolutely #NoExcuse.
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