Nothing is new: history shows that efforts to overcome gender inequality and end violence against women commonly encounter opposition, whether from individuals or groups, in formal or informal ways. This resistance or “backlash” against progressive feminist social change is a persistent trait within patriarchal structures. As soon as patterns of inequality and injustice in these structures are challenged, individuals and groups, especially those who benefit from them, tend to resist. With the advent of digitalization and contemporary communication tools such as social networks, it is all the easier to express this resistance and misogyny.
In Tirana, Albania, a woman committed suicide in early March after her ex-boyfriend, a TikTok influencer, blackmailed her and posted revealing photos of her on social media. The man who published the photos was arrested and charged with “incitement to murder” by the court in Tirana.
This marks the second instance of a woman’s suicide in this still nascent year, due to the exposure of intimate private photos on social media. Anita Lushi, coordinator of the Albanian Women’s Empowerment Network (AWEN), conveyed to Euronews Next during an interview: “digital image-based abuse has reached a peak where we can’t take it anymore.”1 She added that this evolving form of abuse represents an increasing aspect of gender-based violence that requires intervention from governmental authorities at all levels.
Since 2016, the Counselling Line for Women and Girls (CLWG) has served as the only national helpline for victims of gender-based and domestic violence in Albania. The center was established in 1996 with the aim of promoting gender equality, affirming, and protecting women’s human rights, supporting women who have experienced domestic and gender-based violence and their families, and advocating for the education and economic empowerment of women and their children. In 2022, the National Helpline received 3620 calls and more than 1000 women and girls were supported through the CLWG’s face-to-face and online counseling sessions for survivors of violence. The government funds around 25% of the costs of the helpline. IAMANEH is one of the donors that has thus been able to close the funding gap for this service. In the current project phase, which is committed to improving safety for women in the digital space, it is particularly important to strengthen the sustainability of the service provider.2
Comprehending the nature of violence and its methods invariably entails contextualizing it within its cultural and historical milieu, acknowledging its fluidity and potential for evolution over time. The emergence of novel forms of gender-based violence in digital realms underscores the imperative to perceive violence within online platforms as a multifaceted, dynamic, intertwining, and interrelated phenomenon. What is essential is not merely the presence of civic bravery but also increased research endeavors aimed to understand and confront the intricate nature of violence prevalent on social media. This constitutes one of several crucial measures required to foster cultures of harmony within and outside the digital sphere.
[1] A matter of national security’: Albanian group wants government to ban cybercrimes against women
[2] Article (in German) “Sicherheit für Frauen und Mädchen im digitalen Raum” (Security for women and girls in digital spaces)