In February 2025, Gender Tech Initiative Uganda (GTI-U) joined forces with Pollicy and CIPESA to present a policy brief to the Parliamentary committee on Legal and Gender Affairs at the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda. This collaborative effort marked a significant step in our ongoing mission to bridge the digital divide and create safer online spaces for women and marginalised communities in Uganda. Its a Critical Moment for Digital Rights as technology continues to reshape our society, and we’re witnessing an alarming evolution in how gender-based violence manifests in digital spaces. The Sexual Offences Bill 2024 presents a unique opportunity to address these emerging challenges. Our policy brief specifically examines Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) as an intersecting issue of digital sexual offense that expands beyond traditionally defined physical sexual offenses.TFGBV is defined as “an act of violence perpetrated by one or more individuals that is committed, assisted, aggravated and amplified in part or fully by the use of information and communication technologies or digital media, against a person on the basis of their gender.” This comprehensive definition highlights the critical connection between digital platforms and sexual violence, emphasizing the urgent need for legal frameworks that address both physical and virtual dimensions of abuse.The Reality of Digital Abuse in Uganda paints a troubling picture. Research indicates that one in three women have experienced online violence, resulting in severe social, psychological, and physical consequences.Women and men experience online violence differently, with women more likely to face sexual harassment, body shaming, misogynistic hate speech, and non-consensual intimate image sharing.
With female social media users representing only 37.8% compared to 62.2% males in Uganda, TFGBV threatens to further widen the digital gender divide that our government and civil society organizations have been working tirelessly to bridge.Despite Uganda’s robust gender-responsive legal framework, our brief identifies significant gaps in addressing TFGBV:
2. Existing legal frameworks on digital abuses do not explicitly define and criminalize gender-based violence online, especially sexual forms.
3. The nullification of provisions in the Anti-pornography Act 2014 and the absence of a more responsive law continue to create gaps in addressing the intersection of sexual abuses and technology.
4. Women’s rights and protection laws do not provide intersecting definitions and penalties for socially evolving sexual violations in the digital realm.
Our Recommendations for Legislative ChangeBased on our research and experience, we’ve proposed several specific recommendations to strengthen the Sexual Offences Bill:
1. The Bill should explicitly define TFGBV and align with global, regional, and national digital policy frameworks. Replace limited references to “online platform” with comprehensive language addressing all forms of technology-facilitated abuse.
2.The Bill should recognize and criminalize voyeurism, which increasingly involves the use of technology to observe and record individuals without consent.3. Recognize and respond to the legislative gaps within the existing legal frameworks on the prevention of violence against all in both the physical and digital spaces.
4. To address the full scope of violations, we recommend that the Bill explicitly list forms of TFGBV including cyber harassment, non-consensual intimate image sharing, and online grooming as prosecutable offenses, ensuring survivors have clear legal pathways to redress. While the Bill uses “on-line platform” in clauses 1, 6, and 7, replacing “on-line platform” with “Technology-facilitated gender-based violence” will be more exhaustive in the scope of the gender-based offences committed in the online spaces.
Based on these precedents, we call for aligning TFGBV measures with similar provisions on digital harassment, ensuring that Ugandan legislation covers both civil and criminal remedies for TF-GBV survivors.
Gender Tech Initiative Uganda is a non-profit organization dedicated to bridging the digital divide by empowering women, girls, and marginalized communities with digital literacy and safety skills. We envision a world where technology is inclusive, accessible, and transformative, enabling individuals to participate meaningfully in the digital economy and advocate for their rights.