Online Activism Against Gender-Based Violence: How African Feminism is Using Twitter for Progress
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.28939/iam.debats.134-2.6Keywords:
#BringBackOurGirls, #JusticeForNoura, #JusticeForOchanya, African Feminism, activism.Abstract
The chief goal of African feminism has been to better African women’s dire conditions in a mainly patriarchal society. Over the last five years however, the tide appears to be turning as feminists across the continent make greater use of online platforms to work change. This paper discusses the ways in which African women are using Twitter to protest against the abusive conditions women face including early and forced marriages, domestic abuse, abduction, sexual assault, slavery and other forms of gender-based violence. Through the lens of three hashtag campaigns (#BringBackOurGirls, #JusticeforNoura and #JusticeForOchanya), the paper examines the impact of twittering on African gender activism. Through Critical Discussion Analysis of selected tweets three key narratives emerged, constructed by the online activists who took part in the campaigns: Solidarity in Feminist Sisterhood; Gender Equality; and A Call for Justice. The tweets are analysed under these themes showing that the meanings constructed by the activists helped advance the African feminist cause. The paper concludes with the lessons to be drawn from the campaigns, which show social media’s scope for
advancing the goals of African feminism.
Downloads
References
Adaoyiche, G. (12 de octubre de 2018). The Untold Story of How 13-yr-old Ochanya Died while Seeking an Education.
Pulse Nigeria. Recuperado de https://www.pulse.ng/the-untold-story-of-how-13-yr-old-ochanya-died-whileseeking-
an-education/b06tw0z
African Feminist Forum (2006). Charter of Feminist Principles for African Feminists. Recuperado de http://awdf.org/
wp-content/uploads/AFF-Feminist-Charter-Digital-%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%93-English.pdf
Ahikire, J. (2014). African Feminism in Context: Reflections on the Legitimation Battles, Victories and Reversals.
Feminist Africa, 19, 7-23.
Ameh, C. G. (23 de octubre de 2018) Nigerians Demand Justice for 13-yr-old Ochanya Ogbajeallegedly Raped to
Death by Father, Son in Benue. Daily Post Nigeria. Recuperado de https://dailypost.ng/2018/10/23/nigeriansdemand-
justice-13-yr-old-ochanya-ogbaje-allegedly-raped-death-father-son-benue/
Amnesty International UK (27 de junio de 2018). Justice for Noura Hussein. Recuperado de https://www.amnesty.
org.uk/justice-noura-hussein
Azumah, J. (2015). Boko Haram in Retrospect. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 26(1), 33-52. DOI:
1080/09596410.2014.967930.
Baderoon, G. y Decker, A. C. (2018). African Feminisms Cartographies for the Twenty-First Century. Meridians, 17(2),
-231. DOI:10.1215/15366936-7176384
Berkey, L., Franzen, T. y Leitz, L. (2000). Feminist Responses to Stigma: Building Assets in African American Adolescent
Girls. Feminist Teacher, 13(1), 35-47. Recuperado de www.jstor.org/stable/40545930
Bureau of Counterterrorism (2014). Country Reports on Terrorism 2013. Departamento del Estado de EEUU. Recuperado
de https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2013//index.htm
Chatterjee, S. (2016). What Does It Mean to Be a Postcolonial Feminist? The Artwork of Mithu Sen. Hypatia, 31(1),
-40. DOI: 10.1111/hypa.12225
Chiluwa, I. e Ifukor, I. (2015). War against our Children: Stance and Evaluation in #BringBackOurGirls Campaign
Discourse on Twitter and Facebook. Discourse & Society, 26(3), 267-296. DOI: 10.1177/0957926514564735.
Dixon, K. (2014). Feminist on line Identity: Analyzing the Presence of Hashtag Feminism. Journal of Arts and
Humanities, 3(7), 34-40. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18533/journal.v3i7.509
Drucker, S. A. (27 de abril de 2018). Betty Friedan: The Three Waves of Feminism. Ohio Humanities. Recuperado de
http://www.ohiohumanities.org/betty-friedan-the-three-waves-of-feminism/
Elhassan, S. (21 de junio de 2018). Sara Elhassan: In Sudan, the #JusticeForNoura Campaign Gave a Voice to the
Voiceless. CNN. Recuperado de https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/21/opinions/noura-hussein-social-mediacampaign-
elhassan-asequals-intl/index.html
Gamble, S. (ed.) (2001). The Routledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism. Nueva York: Routledge.
Hansen, A. y Machin, D. (2013). Media and Communication Research Methods. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hill, J. N. C. (2014). Boko Haram, the Chibok Abductions and Nigeria’s Counterterrorism Strategy. CTC Sentinel, 7(7).
Recuperado de https://ctc.usma.edu/boko-haram-the-chibok-abductions-and-nigerias-counterterrorism-strategy/
Ihle, A. (2009). A Critical Discourse of African Feminism as an Exponent of Feminist Theory. Múnich: Grin Verlag.
Ingerson, K. y Bruce, J. (2013). Leadership in the Twitterverse. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(3),74-83. Recuperado
de https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271814511_Leadership_in_the_Twitterverse/citations
Kennedy, A. y Prock, K. (2016). “I Still Feel Like I Am Not Normal”: A Review of the Role of Stigma and Stigmatization
Among Female Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, and Intimate Partner Violence. Trauma, Violence
and Abuse, 19(5), 512-527.
Mackintosh, E. y Elbagir, N. (24 de mayo de 2018) Bites and a Broken Bed: New Details in Case of Sudan Teen who
Killed Rapist Husband. CNN. Recuperado de https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/24/africa/noura-hussein-sudanappeal-
intl/index.html
Maiangwa, B. y Agbiboa, D. E. (2013). Boko Haram, Religious Violence, and the Crisis of National Identity in Nigeria
Towards a Non-killing Approach. Journal of Developing Societies, 29(4), 379-403. DOI: 10.1177/0169796X13503198.
Maerten, M. (2004). African Feminism. Factsheet, 34, 1-8.
Mama, A. (2005). Gender Studies for Africa’s Transformation. En T. Mkandawire (ed.), African Intellectuals: Rethinking
Politics, Language, Gender and Development. Dakar: CODESRIA.
Maxfield, M. (2015). History Retuiting Itself: Imperial Feminist Appropriations of “BringBack Our Girls”. Feminist
Media Studies, 16(5), 886-900. DOI: 10.1080/14680777.2015.1116018
McEwan, C. (2001). Postcolonialism, Feminism and Development: Intersections and Dilemmas. Sage Journals, 1(2),
-111. DOI: 10.1177/146499340100100201
Mendes, K., Ringrose, J. y Keller, J. (2018) #MeToo and the promise and pitfalls of challenging rape
culture through digital feminist activism. European Journal of Women’s Studies; 25(2), 236-246. DOI:
1177/1350506818765318?journalCode=ejwa
Morgan, R. (1970). Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings the Women’s Liberation Movement. Nueva
York: Vintage Books.
Munro, E. (2013). Feminism: A Fourth Wave? Sage Journal, 4(2), 22-25.
Mutume, G. (julio de 2005). African Women Battle for Equality. Africa Renewal. Recuperado de https://www.un.org/
africarenewal/magazine/july-2005/african-women-battle-equality
Nigeria: Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 LFN 2004, 1 de junio del1916 (versión amendada el 1990), Recuperado de
https://www.refworld.org/docid/49997ade1a.html
Nkealah, N. (2016). (West) African Feminisms and Their Challenges. Journal of Literary Studies, 32(2), 61-74. DOI:
1080/02564718.2016.1198156.
Omeni, A. (2017). Counter-Insurgency in Nigeria The Military and Operations against Boko Haram, 2011-2017.
Londres: Routledge Publications.
Oyewole, S. (2016). Rescuing Boko Haram’s Schoolgirl Victims. New Zealand International Review, 41(1), 25-28.
Parisi, L. (2010). Feminist Perspectives on Human Rights. International Studies Association and Oxford University Press.
DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.48
Pendergrass, W. S. (2015). #NotAllMen, #BringBackOurGirls & #YesAllWomen: Three Months of Gender Discussion
in the Age of Twitter. Issues in Information Systems, 16(1), 60-68.
Poster, M. (2009). Global Media and Culture. New Literary History, 39, 685-703.
Rape Case: Justice for the late Ochanya (12 de noviembre de 2018). Punch Nigeria. Recuperado de https://punchng.
com/rape-case-justice-for-the-late-ochanya
Segun, M. y Muscati, S. (2015). #BringBackOurGirls but Also #HelpTheEscaped. Human Rights Watch. Recuperado
de https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/14/bringbackourgirls-also-helptheescaped.
Statista (2019). Fastest Growing Online Populations Based on Relative Year-on-year User Growth as of January 2019.
Recuperado de https://www.statista.com/statistics/292488/fastest-growing-internet-populations/
Stolz, J. y Le Faure, P. (1997). The Secret Suffering of African Women. Riv Inferm Oct-Dec 1997, 16(4), 241-243.
Smith, M. (2015). Boko Haram: Inside Nigeria’s Unholy War. Londres: I. B. Tauris.
Tomchak, A. (6 de mayo de 2014). #BBCtrending: How a Million People Called to #BringBackOurGirls. BBC.
Recuperado de https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-27298696
UNICEF (2014). A Statistical Snapshot of Violence Against Adolescent Girls. Recuperado de https://www.unicef.org/
publications/files/A_Statistical_Snapshot_of_Violence_Against_Adolescent_Girls.pdf
UN Women (2018). Statement: Appeal for Clemency for Noura Hussein. Recuperado de https://www.unwomen.
org/en/news/stories/2018/5/statement-appeal-for-clemency-for-noura-hussein
Wodak, R. y Meyer, M. (ed.) (2001). Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. Londres: SAGE Publications. DOI:
4135/9780857028020
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Without prejudice to the provisions of article 52 of Spanish Law 22/1987 of November 11 on Intellectual Property, BOE (official state bulletin) of November 17, 1987, and pursuant to said legislation, the author(s) surrender(s) free of charge its rights of edition, publication, distribution and sale of the article, for its publication in Debats. Journal on Culture, Power and Society.
Debats. Journal on Culture, Power and Society is published under the Creative Commons license system in accordance with the «Recognition - Non-Commercial (by-nc) modality: The generation of derivative works is permitted provided that commercial use is not made. Nor can the original work be used for commercial purposes».
Thus, when the author submits his/her contribution, he/she explicitly accepts this assignment of publishing and publishing rights. Authors also authorize Debats. Journal on Culture, Power and Society to include their work in an issue of the journal to be distributed and sold.