Women face specific threats and violence that their male counterparts
for the most part do not, and they have paid a steep price for the
online activism, facing those who would use sexual violence in an
attempt to silence and intimidate them. Gender-specific threats, threats
of sexual violence, and character assassination specifically exploit
cultural taboos in which female victims are seen as having brought
dishonor upon themselves. Sexual assault, including rape, has become a
defining feature of the ongoing struggle in Egypt, and thus threats of
such violence cause real psychological harm to the recipients.
Online
defamation campaigns against women cyberactivists have been seen
throughout the world, and in the Arab region, where they have come to
play a central role in the uprisings, even becoming memes online. In
December 2011, amateur mobile phone videos captured the beating of a
woman by Egyptian security forces, who tore off her abaya and exposed
her blue bra. Video and photos of the assault quickly went viral and the"blue bra girl" became a symbol of the continuing military repression
and violence against women as people tweeted and Facebooked the attack.
Women, sexual minorities, and others often limit their engagement and use of social media and blogs because they are aware of stalking, filtering and monitoring, and fear the harassment, intimidation and defamation campaigns that are far too commonly levied against outspoken cyberactivists, journalists, and bloggers in an attempt to disenfranchise and marginalize them.
And indeed, there is a disturbing gender divide
on Facebook in the Arab region, with women making up only one-third of
users in the region, whereas women make up one-half of users globally.
The third Arab Social Media Report
found that regionally, women used social media during the revolution
about equally to raise awareness inside their countries about the causes
of the revolutions and to share and spread information with the world,
whereas men focused more on the former. Cyberactivists used social
media networks to strengthen their networked links with each other,
journalists, and transnational rights groups, providing a measure of
protection and publicity when the regime attempted to arrest or harass
them, meaning if that they are underrepresented they risk not having
access to these support networks and being outside the mainstream media
influence loop. The Arab Social Media Report attributed the divide to
social and cultural constraints based impressions gathered from survey
participants, but my interviews indicate that access and technological
literacy is a greater barrier to social media use among women.
