Impact of Digital Violence on Women’s Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods in Cameroon

Digital technology has become a powerful tool for women’s economic empowerment, opening opportunities for entrepreneurship, access to markets, education, and financial inclusion. However, for many women and girls in Cameroon especially those in rural and conflict-affected communities these same digital spaces have become sources of harm. Digital violence against women and girls is an invisible yet growing threat that directly undermines women’s economic empowerment, livelihoods, and participation in the digital economy.

As part of the UNiTE to End Violence Against Women and Girls campaign, it is critical to highlight how online abuse, harassment, and exploitation restrict women’s economic rights and deepen gender inequality.

Understanding Digital Violence Against Women and Girls

Digital violence refers to any act of gender-based violence committed, assisted, or aggravated through digital technologies. This includes online harassment, cyberstalking, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, hate speech, impersonation, threats, and technology-facilitated coercive control.

In Cameroon, many women and girls experience digital violence without recognizing it as abuse. Even when they do, they often do not know where to turn for help, advice, or support. This lack of awareness and reporting mechanisms is especially severe in rural areas and conflict-affected regions, where access to digital literacy, legal services, and psychosocial support is limited.

How Digital Violence Undermines Women’s Economic Empowerment

1. Exclusion from Digital Economic Opportunities

Digital platforms such as social media, e-commerce, mobile money, and online marketplaces are essential tools for women entrepreneurs. However, women who experience online harassment or threats often withdraw from these platforms to protect themselves.

When women leave digital spaces, they lose:

• Customers and business networks

• Marketing and visibility opportunities

• Access to online jobs and remote work

• Financial independence

This digital exclusion reinforces economic dependency and limits women’s ability to build sustainable livelihoods.

2. Loss of Income and Business Closure

For women running small businesses online—such as fashion vendors, farmers, content creators, or service providers—digital violence can have direct financial consequences. Fake accounts, defamatory content, impersonation, or coordinated harassment can damage reputations and drive customers away.

In extreme cases, women are forced to shut down their businesses entirely, leading to income loss and increased poverty, particularly for women who are heads of households.

3. Psychological Impact and Reduced Productivity

The emotional and psychological toll of digital violence cannot be overstated. Survivors often experience anxiety, depression, fear, and stress. These effects reduce concentration, confidence, and productivity, making it difficult to work, innovate, or grow a business.

For women and girls already facing economic hardship, this mental burden further limits their ability to participate meaningfully in economic life.

4. Barriers to Education and Skills Development

Digital platforms are increasingly used for online learning, vocational training, and skills development. Girls and young women who face cyberbullying or online sexual harassment may drop out of digital learning spaces, limiting their future employment prospects.

In conflict-affected communities in Cameroon, where digital learning may be the only available option, digital violence becomes a barrier to long-term economic empowerment.

5. Silencing Women’s Voices and Leadership

Women leaders, activists, and social entrepreneurs are disproportionately targeted by digital violence aimed at silencing them. When women are attacked online for speaking out or leading businesses, it discourages others from participating in public and economic life.

This silencing effect weakens women’s collective power, innovation, and leadership in community development and peacebuilding.

The Way Forward: Ending Digital Violence to Promote Economic Justice

Ending digital violence against women and girls is not only a human rights issue—it is an economic necessity. Governments, civil society organizations, technology companies, and communities must work together to:

• Raise awareness about digital violence and women’s digital rights

• Improve digital literacy and online safety skills for women and girls

• Create accessible reporting and support mechanisms, especially in rural areas

• Strengthen laws and policies addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence

• Support survivors with legal, psychosocial, and economic recovery services

Digital violence against women and girls

Digital violence against women and girls in Cameroon continues to go unnoticed, yet its impact on women’s economic empowerment and livelihoods is profound. As digital spaces become central to economic participation, ensuring they are safe and inclusive for women is essential for sustainable development.

Through collective action under the UNiTE to End Digital Violence Against Women and Girls campaign, we can break the silence, protect women’s economic rights, and ensure that digital technology serves as a tool for empowerment not oppression.

There is an urgent need for a real-time, survivor-centered, and discreet response system that bridges the gap between survivors and trusted responders, especially in conflict-affected and hard-to-reach areas. Get in Touch