Three in four women journalists worldwide say they have faced online violence at work, and 42% now link that abuse to attacks or harm offline, up from 20% in 2020 [5][7][8]. In West and Central Africa, the pattern is clear even though the data is thin: coordinated smear campaigns in Burkina Faso, a sexual extortion case in Ghana, misogynistic disinformation in Nigeria, and cyber laws used to arrest women journalists in Niger and Nigeria. Of 3,255 press freedom violations against women journalists logged worldwide from 2019 to 2024, 258 were in Africa, and Nigeria alone accounted for 12% of the African cases [1]. Almost no attacker has been convicted.
Content note: this article mentions threats of sexual violence and sexual extortion.
Why this matters
Women journalists cover elections, conflict, corruption and gender-based violence. When they are attacked online, the goal is often to discredit them, push them off social media, or make them stop reporting. The UNESCO and ICFJ survey behind The Chilling found that 30% of women journalists self-censor on social media after attacks, 20% stop posting, and 4% leave their jobs [5]. Political actors were the second most cited source of attacks, after anonymous accounts [5].
Global studies rarely give an African breakdown. RFLD’s October 2026 report on online violence against women in West and Central Africa notes that none of the major surveys separates the region, and that incident logs tend to undercount online abuse because they focus on arrests and assaults [1]. The cases below are therefore a press-based, partial record. They are what journalists, monitors and courts made public, not the full picture.
The Maputo Protocol (2003) obliges states to protect women from violence in public and private life, including harassment. The African Commission’s 2019 Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression (Principle 20) asks states to take specific measures for the safety of women journalists, and its 2022 Resolution 522 on digital violence asks states to adopt laws on digital violence and to repeal overly broad surveillance laws [1][9].
Cases and events, 2021 to 2026
The list below covers cases we could document in sources we opened. Some years and countries are thin. That reflects under-reporting, not the absence of abuse.
2021
- January 2021, Ghana. iWatch Africa’s digital rights monitoring found that a woman journalist in Ghana faced on average 61 online abuses during the period studied, against 28 for a male journalist. Although three times more men were monitored, 46% of all abuse targeted women. TV presenters Serwaa Amihere and Nana Aba Anamoah were among the most abused, with attacks focused on gender and sexuality [31][9].
- December 2021, Benin. Law 2021-11 on sex-based offences was adopted. It treats repeated messages as sexual harassment, but does not create an offence for sharing intimate images [3].
2022
- January 2022, Niger. Journalist Samira Sabou and journalist Moussa Aksar were charged with defamation “by electronic communication” for sharing a report on drug trafficking. Sabou received a fine and a one-month suspended sentence, and appealed [20].
- September 2022, Nigeria. The Coalition For Women in Journalism (CFWIJ) condemned a wave of sexist slurs and threats against investigative journalist Kiki Mordi, known for the BBC documentary “Sex for Grades”. Mordi said she later learned she had been the target of a disinformation campaign. No investigation was reported [16]. RSF reported in 2025 that she had to move house and pause most of her work [18].
- November 2022, global and Nigeria. UNESCO and ICFJ published the full Chilling study, including a Nigeria case study [6]. Nigerian journalist Ruona Meyer was attacked by trolls after an investigation into codeine abuse, and labelled a foreign agent because of her marriage and her BBC work [9].
- November 2022, Côte d’Ivoire. The 2013 cybercrime law (Loi 2013-451) was amended. It reportedly covers sexual harassment and threats to publish intimate images [3].
2023
- February 2023, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and Nigeria. In MFWA webinars, Aminata Sanou of Burkina 24 described the “precarious” safety of women journalists “both offline and online”, including harassment on social media [14]. An MFWA report on Guinea-Bissau the same month noted insults on social networks and recommended an online safety law [15].
- 18 March 2023, Nigeria. During the elections, security personnel and political activists in Delta State attacked TheCable reporter Bolanle Olabimtan. Her phone was seized and she said her chats, photos, Instagram feed and private messages were searched. In Lagos, People’s Gazette reporter Ajayi Adebola had her phone seized and content deleted. No outcome was reported [17].
- April 2023, Burkina Faso. After a Libération investigation, a network of websites and WhatsApp groups falsely accused French and Burkinabè journalists of being paid by France. French journalists Agnès Faivre and Sophie Douce (Le Monde) were expelled. Facebook disabled the network’s pages, but replacement pages appeared [21].
- 2023, Côte d’Ivoire. A podcast and a university panel collected testimony from women political journalists about hateful comments and threats of sexual violence [1].
- 30 September 2023, Niger. Samira Sabou was arrested at her mother’s home by plain-clothes men, a day after a Facebook post about a military document. Her family and lawyer did not know where she was for several days. She was charged with supplying intelligence to a foreign power and spreading data likely to disturb public order, and provisionally released on 11 October 2023. Police kept her phone [19][20].
2024
- February 2024, Nigeria. President Tinubu signed amendments to the Cybercrimes Act. Section 24 (cyberstalking) was narrowed to pornographic content or content known to be false that threatens life or public order. At least 25 journalists had been prosecuted under the Act before the reform [27][26].
- April 2024, Ghana. TV presenter Serwaa Amihere reported that, after a demand of GHS 20,000 was paid, intimate images of her were posted on social media. On 9 April, three people were charged before an Accra court with conspiracy and sexual extortion under section 66 of the Cybersecurity Act 2020; one suspect was at large [28]. On 25 April, the Dansoman Circuit Court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, saying it must go to the High Court [29]. In December 2024, media reported the alleged arrest of the remaining suspect, without police confirmation [30]. We found no public record of a verdict.
- June 2024, Niger. Prison terms for defamation and public order offences were reinstated in the cybercrime law [1][3].
- 19 August 2024, Côte d’Ivoire. The network of Ivorian women journalists (Refjpci) screened a documentary on cyber-harassment in Abidjan. Presenter Evelyne Deba described obscene messages and sexual abuse online: “It is traumatising.” Women featured in the film received insults, sexual messages and death threats [24].
2025
- March 2025, global. RSF found that nearly 60% of journalists it interviewed knew a colleague covering women’s rights who had been cyber-harassed, and 93% could not name a single conviction of an attacker [18].
- 5 to 6 June 2025, Togo. While covering a protest in Lomé, journalist Flore Monteau had her phone and equipment confiscated by police and was forced to delete footage, despite valid accreditation [13].
- August 2025, Nigeria. Azuka Francisca Ogujiuba, publisher of Media Room Hub, was arrested twice in Abuja over an article on a land dispute, held for up to three days, and released on 11 August after removing the article and writing an apology [26].
- 28 to 30 October 2025, Senegal. Maïmouna Ndour Faye, director-general of 7TV, was arrested during a broadcast interview with a government critic and released two days later. This was not an online attack, but it shows the pressure on women media leaders [36][37]. We did not find a documented case of online abuse against a named Senegalese woman journalist in this period.
- 2025, Benin. Journalist Angela Kpéidja, who in 2020 was the first Beninese journalist to publicly denounce workplace harassment, said she still faced constant cyber-harassment. Benin’s digital crime centre (CNIN) said it receives at least 50 complaints a day, 30% about online harassment or blackmail [25].
- 2 November 2025, West Africa. For the International Day to End Impunity, MFWA warned of AI deepfakes, doctored sexual images and fake quotes targeting women journalists, with violations documented in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Guinea, Nigeria and Ghana [12].
- December 2025, global. The UN Women Tipping Point report found that 75% of women journalists faced online violence, 42% linked it to offline harm, and 19% reported AI-assisted abuse such as deepfakes [7][8].
2026
- April to July 2026, Burkina Faso. After Sky News aired a documentary with an interview of Captain Ibrahim Traoré on 10 April, reporter Yousra Elbagir was targeted by hundreds of hostile messages, mainly on Facebook, with doctored images, attacks on her family and false claims she would be fired. One member of the pro-junta BIR-C network published 26 posts about her in 12 days. RSF published its investigation on 23 July [22]. On 3 August, the communication minister publicly praised the BIR-C [23].
- September 2026, DR Congo. The Congolese union of women in media (Ucofem) trained women journalists on preventing cyber-harassment. Participants asked for zero-tolerance policies and alert mechanisms in newsrooms [33]. On 30 September, 15 women journalists in Beni, North Kivu, took part in a similar workshop [34].
- October 2026, Nigeria. A coalition of digital rights groups in Abuja warned that the internet is being “weaponised” against women who speak in public [39].
What the data says
- Prevalence: 73% of women journalists in the 2020 global survey had faced online violence; 25% received threats of physical violence and 18% threats of sexual violence [5].
- Escalation: offline harm linked to online abuse rose from 20% (2020) to 42% (2025) [7][8].
- Reporting: only 25% reported attacks to their employer in 2020 [5]. RFLD’s review of a May 2026 UNESCO follow-up found that only 22% reported to police [1].
- Platforms: in Benin, 62% of cyber-violence complaints involve Facebook, 21% WhatsApp and 10% TikTok; fewer than 20% of victims file a complaint [25].
- Newsrooms: two-thirds of respondents to an IFJ survey said online harassment was not a priority for their media company [9].
These figures come from different methods and should not be added together. No West or Central African country publishes official statistics on online abuse of journalists.
What the law says, and the gaps
| Country | Main law | What it covers | Gaps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghana | Cybersecurity Act 2020 (Act 1038) | Sexual extortion (s.66, 10 to 25 years); sharing intimate images (s.67); threats to share (s.68) | No cyberbullying offence; insults and disinformation fall outside [3][4] |
| Nigeria | Cybercrimes Act 2015, amended 2024 | Section 24 narrowed to pornographic or knowingly false content threatening life or order | No explicit intimate image offence; still used against journalists [3][26] |
| Côte d’Ivoire | Loi 2013-451, amended 2022 | Reportedly sexual harassment and threats to publish intimate images | Article coverage not confirmed [3] |
| Benin | Code du numérique (Loi 2017-20), art. 550; Law 2021-11 | Electronic harassment, 1 to 2 years and fines up to 10 million FCFA | No gender reference; no intimate image offence [3][25] |
| Niger | Cybercrime law 2019, amended June 2024 | Defamation and public order offences with prison | No gender provisions; used against journalists [3][19] |
| Cameroon | Law 2010/012 | Private data and images without consent (arts. 74 to 75) | No explicit cyber-harassment offence [3] |
| DR Congo | Code du numérique (Ordonnance-loi 23/010, 2023) | Online harassment (arts. 358 to 359); false information about a person (art. 360) | Weak enforcement, unspecialised courts, cyber agency not yet operational [35] |
| Togo | Data protection law | Storing or processing intimate images without consent | No criminal offence on sharing as such [3] |
We could not verify specific cyber-harassment provisions for Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali or Guinea in the sources we opened. RFLD’s Senegal law page is still verifying these texts [2]. Readers can check the country pages listed below.
Three gaps stand out. First, most laws punish leaked images or extortion, but not the daily flood of sexist insults, doxxing and coordinated disinformation that women journalists describe. Second, broad offences such as cyberstalking, defamation and “false news” are more often used against journalists than to protect them: Samira Sabou in Niger and Azuka Ogujiuba in Nigeria were both detained under such rules [19][26]. Third, cases stall. The Serwaa Amihere case was dismissed on jurisdiction within weeks [29], and MFWA notes that investigations are scarce and prosecutions rare [12]. MFWA also notes that most cyber and media laws do not cover AI-generated abuse [12].
What platforms have done
Public evidence of platform action in the region is limited. In 2023, Facebook disabled pages of the network that targeted journalists in Burkina Faso, but substitutes reappeared [21]. RSF’s 2026 investigation into the BIR-C did not report any action by Meta, TikTok or X [22]. In Abidjan in 2024, Canada’s foreign minister urged internet companies to build tools to remove abuse targeting women [24]. UN Women and MFWA both ask platforms to remove harmful and AI-generated content quickly and to create survivor-friendly redress [32][12].
What RFLD asks for
- Clear, narrow laws. Every state should criminalise cyberstalking, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, sexualised deepfakes and doxxing, in line with Article 4 of the Maputo Protocol and ACHPR Resolution 522, with precise wording that cannot be turned against reporters.
- Stop using cyber laws against journalists. Repeal or amend vague “false news”, defamation and cyberstalking provisions, including Nigeria’s section 24 and Niger’s 2024 amendments.
- Specialised investigators and prosecutors. Train police and prosecutors to handle digital evidence, and publish yearly data on complaints, prosecutions and convictions.
- Platform priority channels. Meta, TikTok, X and WhatsApp should create fast reporting routes for women journalists, staffed in French, English, Portuguese and major African languages, especially during elections.
- Newsroom duty of care. Media houses should adopt zero-tolerance harassment policies, confidential reporting, legal help and psychosocial support, as Ucofem participants and MFWA recommend [33][12].
- Official accountability for state-linked networks. Governments must not praise or coordinate online groups that target journalists, and should investigate such networks.
- Regional follow-up. ECOWAS, ECCAS, the AU and the African Commission should track online attacks on women journalists in state reporting and in CEDAW and UPR reviews.
- Funding. Donors should fund helplines, legal aid and digital security training run by women’s media networks.
RFLD tools you can use today
- Legal Toolkit: Cyber Harassment: a 115-page guide to legal options and reporting routes [2].
- Before you block: how to keep evidence of online abuse: save screenshots, links and dates before reporting.
- Laws on sharing intimate images in West and Central Africa [3] and Ghana’s Cybersecurity Act and sextortion [4].
- Women journalists in the region: when online abuse becomes physical [1].
- The African Digital Safety Compendium: practical digital security for activists and journalists.
- Women’s Rights Laws by Country: for example Nigeria, Ghana, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and DR Congo.
- Governance, Civic Space and Protection and the free course Civic Space, Democracy and Digital Advocacy on the RFLD Academy.
- CEDAW and UPR review calendar: raise online violence in the next review of your country.
- Survivor Support Toolkit and Get Support.
- 16 Days of Activism 2026: join the campaign from 25 November.
Closing
The women in these cases did their jobs: they reported on sexual harassment, on the military, on land disputes and on elections. In return they faced trolls, leaked images, phone searches and, sometimes, arrest. Five years of records show the same failures: weak laws for victims, broad laws for critics, slow courts and silent platforms. Governments in West and Central Africa have signed the Maputo Protocol and endorsed the African Commission’s standards. Protecting women journalists online is now a test of whether those promises mean anything. RFLD and its member organisations will keep documenting cases and supporting women who choose to keep reporting.
References
- RFLD, “Women journalists in the region: when online abuse becomes physical”, 6 October 2026, rflgd.org
- RFLD, “Legal Toolkit: Cyber Harassment”, updated 15 October 2026, rflgd.org; and RFLD, “Senegal: women’s rights laws”, rflgd.org
- RFLD, “Only three states in the region criminalise sharing intimate images”, 6 October 2026, rflgd.org
- RFLD, “Ghana’s Cybersecurity Act, sextortion and intimate images”, 2026, rflgd.org
- Julie Posetti (IJNet), “Les cyberviolences contre les femmes journalistes, amplifiées par la désinformation et les attaques politiques” (UNESCO/ICFJ survey results), 9 December 2020, ijnet.org
- Posetti, Shabbir, Douglas and Gardiner, “The Chilling: A Global Study of Online Violence Against Women Journalists”, ICFJ/UNESCO, 2 November 2022, research.gold.ac.uk
- City St George’s, University of London, “UN Women report: online and offline violence against women in public life” (Tipping Point), December 2025, citystgeorges.ac.uk
- Media Rights Agenda, “UN Women Survey Report Reveals Rising Violence Against Women Journalists”, 22 January 2026, mediarightsagenda.org
- Media Defence, “Violence Against Women Journalists – Sub-Saharan Africa”, updated December 2025, mediadefence.org
- MFWA, “International Women’s Day 2026: We must safeguard women against online gender-based violence”, 5 March 2026, mfwa.org
- Paul Kofi Gozo (MFWA), “Rights. Justice. Action – Time to Act On the Safety of Female Journalists in Ghana”, 8 March 2026, allafrica.com
- MFWA, “IDEI 2025 – MFWA Calls for Action to End AI-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Against Women Journalists”, 2 November 2025, allafrica.com
- MFWA, “Freedom of Expression Monitor: Q2 (April–June) 2025 narrative summary”, October 2025, mfwa.org
- MFWA, “Safety of female journalists in West Africa: Reflections of media practitioners”, 14 March 2023, mfwa.org
- MFWA, “Female journalists face discrimination, harassment in Guinea Bissau”, 24 February 2023, mfwa.org
- Coalition For Women in Journalism, “Nigeria: Targeted Online Violence Against Kiki Mordi”, 9 September 2022, womeninjournalism.org
- Coalition For Women in Journalism, “Nigeria: Five Women Journalists Attacked on Election Day”, 29 March 2023, womeninjournalism.org
- RSF, “8 mars : 60 % des journalistes témoignent du cyberharcèlement ciblant ceux qui couvrent les droits des femmes”, 6 March 2025, rsf.org
- CPJ, “Nigerien journalist Samira Sabou charged with treason, cybercrime”, October 2023, cpj.org
- Wikipedia, “Samira Sabou” (consulted 29 October 2026; secondary source), wikipedia.org
- RSF, “Burkina Faso : RSF dénonce une campagne de dénigrement visant des journalistes locaux et français”, 20 April 2023, rsf.org
- RSF, “Inside Burkina Faso’s BIR-C: the cyber militia targeting journalists via disinformation and online harassment”, 23 July 2026, rsf.org
- Dakaractu, “Burkina Faso : accusé d’avoir mis en place une « milice numérique » contre la presse, le gouvernement répond à RSF”, 3 August 2026, dakaractu.com
- Fraternité Matin, “Cyber harcèlement : Les femmes journalistes crient haro sur les auteurs”, 21 August 2024, fratmat.info
- Angèle M. Adanle (Benin Web TV), “Hell behind the screen: cyberviolence is turning into digital weapons in Benin”, 2025, beninwebtv.com
- Evelyn Okakwu (CPJ), “3 Nigerian journalists detained on cybercrime allegations, despite reform”, 14 November 2025, cpj.org
- Jonathan Rozen (Al Jazeera), “Nigeria’s cybercrime reforms leave journalists at risk”, 20 April 2024, aljazeera.com
- Ghana News Agency, “Henry Fitz, two others charged for sexual extortion”, 9 April 2024, gna.org.gh
- YEN.com.gh, “Serwaa Amihere: Court dismisses case against Henry Fitz and two others”, 25 April 2024, yen.com.gh
- YEN.com.gh, “Henry Fitz allegedly arrested in connection with Serwaa Amihere’s case”, 4 December 2024, yen.com.gh
- Citi Newsroom, “Ghanaian women journalists face threats, abuse in carrying out mandate – iWatch Africa”, 13 January 2021, citinewsroom.com
- UN Women, “How digital violence threatens press freedom in Africa”, 4 December 2025, unwomen.org
- Actualite.cd, “RDC : Ucofem outille les femmes journalistes sur la prévention et la lutte contre le cyberharcèlement”, 19 September 2026, actualite.cd
- AllAfrica, “Congo-Kinshasa: Des femmes journalistes à Beni renforcent leurs capacités pour lutter contre le cyberharcèlement”, 2 October 2026, allafrica.com
- Blaise Loleka Ramazani (Droit-Numérique.cd), “Les violences numériques en RDC : entre banalisation des faits et répression inefficace de la cybercriminalité”, Dossier n° 12, June 2026, droitnumerique.cd
- RSF, “Senegal arrests two journalists, briefly takes two TV channels off the air”, October 2025, rsf.org
- CPJ, “5 journalists arrested in raids on Senegal’s 7TV and RFM broadcasters”, 29 October 2025, cpj.org
- Al Jazeera, “Season of intimidation: Attacks on Ghana press escalate ahead of 2024 polls”, 8 January 2024, aljazeera.com
- News Agency of Nigeria, “Coalition urges media to tackle online violence against women”, 23 October 2026, nannews.ng
