The 7th edition of the Sororités Francophones conference series provided an opportunity to address the issue of online violence: how to deal with it and organize ourselves? The speakers, who came from various French-speaking regions, shared their experiences and thoughts on sexist cyberviolence. Bintou Mariam Traoré, an Ivorian activist and creator of #Vraiefemmeafricaine, Sarah Benmoussa, founder of the feminist media outlet 7achak, and Diane Semerdjian, an expert on the links between online violence and human rights, highlighted the challenges faced by women, and particularly feminist activists, in the digital world.
This webinar explored the power dynamics at work in online violence and examined the arguments put forward by activists to better understand how to organize and implement collective strategies to tackle this issue.
Online violence: a major issue
Online violence takes many forms (insults, threats, harassment, and even virtual sexual assaults). It affects women, particularly feminist activists, reinforcing and amplifying a pattern of patriarchal domination that seeks to reduce their presence in digital public spaces. Diane Semerdjian pointed out that this violence is part of a continuum of patriarchal violence. She explained that "cybersexism leads to sexist and sexual cyberviolence, which aims to drive women and gender minorities out of the space for expression on the internet." "
Bintou Mariam Traoré spoke about her own experience with cyberbullying, adding that it is an omnipresent reality for activists: "Blocking aggressive accounts is an act of resistance, a form of self-assertion. It is a woman's right to preserve her digital space." " Bintou emphasized the importance of not responding to provocations so as not to give more importance to the aggressors. She also pointed out that responding to attacks sometimes gives more power to the aggressors, and that ignorance can be a protective strategy.
Why are women targeted?
For Bintou Mariam Traoré, the digital space continues to be perceived as a male domain where women's voices are systematically challenged. "The attacks aim to make us believe that we don't belong here."
Sarah Benmoussa added that women often become targets as soon as they speak out on sensitive issues, such as human rights or reproductive health. Diane Semerdjian concluded by saying that this violence is representative of a global patriarchal culture that, both online and offline, seeks to control and silence women. "Online violence is an attempt at intimidation that aims to maintain the status quo."
Collective resistance and organizational strategies
Faced with this hostility, the speakers emphasized the importance of solidarity and collective resilience. They shared various strategies for dealing with cyberviolence. Sarah Benmoussa discussed the importance of creating support networks among feminists. "We have a discussion group where we share our experiences of harassment and support each other," she said. She also mentioned the importance of taking breaks from social media to preserve one's mental health. "Taking a step back doesn't mean deactivating your account, but rather giving yourself time to recharge while staying connected to our community." This collective support is essential for documenting incidents and building a record that could be useful in a legal context.
Diane Semerdjian emphasizes the need for a robust legal framework to protect victims of cyberviolence. She cites the Digital Services Act in Europe as a potential step forward in reducing impunity for perpetrators. "Social media platforms must take responsibility and implement effective measures against harassment," she added.
Awareness is crucial in the fight against cyberbullying. Diane Semerdjian recommended resources such as those produced by the #StopFisha association, which provides information on combating cybersexism. Educating the public on these issues is essential to reducing stigma and encouraging victims to speak out.
A call for collective action
Diane Semerdjian called for stricter regulation of hateful content on social media: "Platforms must take responsibility and act against online harassment." Bintou added that activists must continue to push for changes in the law to better protect women's rights in the digital space.
This session of the Sororités Francophones cycle not only highlighted the reality of cyberbullying, but also provided an opportunity to exchange ideas and strategies developed by feminists to combat it. The testimonies of Sarah Benmoussa, Bintou Mariam Traoré and Diane Semerdjian illustrate resilience and solidarity within the feminist movement. The speakers showed that, despite the challenges, there are concrete ways to resist and organize collectively.
Feminist struggles must continue to grow in the digital space, because every voice counts in the fight against gender-based and sexual violence online, in order to create a safer environment for everyone on the internet.
