“I am drowning under the weight of hatred”: The scope and nature of TFGBV in Tajikistan

Introduction

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is growing in prevalence, with fast changes in its nature, and with governments, civil society and researchers struggling to keep up. Technology allows for the further extension of on-ground violence, but also introduces new risks and types of violence against women. Fear of using technology and exposure to violence via technology has the potential to restrict the benefits that technology can bring in empowering women. Tajikistan experiences high levels of violence against women as a result of patriarchal norms and harmful gender stereotypes. But little is known about the scope, forms and extent of TFGBV.

The research used theoretical frameworks of feminist standpoint and intersectionality to learn from a diverse range of women about their experiences of TFGBV and how these experiences could shape a collective response to this challenge.

Research objective

The objective of the research was to provide a platform to give informed analysis and conclusions to government and civil society, on which the first responses to TFGBV can be developed. These responses include legal changes required, promotion of women’s rights and women’s knowledge of their rights, technological solutions that are applicable to the local context, as well as awareness raising of how women can protect themselves and how to seek help or compensation following TFGBV.

Research questions

The research questions were designed to provide a foundation of knowledge on TFGBV in local contexts, as there is such scarcity of current research that is applicable to Tajikistan. The research was designed to highlight the complexities regarding TFGBV and make a contribution to the significant gaps in knowledge.

Question 1: What is the extent and scope of TFGBV in Tajikistan, and what forms does it take? 

Question 2: How does the experience and/or fear of TFGBV contribute to women’s access equality in their online experiences?

Research methodology

The research employed mixed methodology, combining online research with qualitative research targeting women with specific characteristics:

1. Online and social media monitoring conducted between the months of June and September 2024 analysed 22 posts with 3,885 comments from Facebook and Instagram.
2. Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in Tajikistan were conducted with 20 women. These stakeholders were from the fields of human rights and women’s rights activism.
3. One-to-one interviews were conducted with an additional 39 women. Of these women, 74% had personally experienced at least one instance of TFGBV.
4. Focus group discussions were held in three districts of Sughd oblast, Tajikistan. There were eight focus groups with 55 women participating in the focus groups.

Further details of information on research design, methodology and ethics can be found in a previous edition of GenderIT.[1] 

Main research findings

The research demonstrates that online violence against women exists as a continuum with offline violence, patriarchal values and established gender norms that have power over women and are used to control them. Women and girls from all walks of life are impacted by TFGBV, with 64% of the women interviewed personally experiencing this form of violence. Harassment and stalking, blackmailing, slander, defamation and non-consensual sharing of intimate images have been shown to be present in rural and urban locations alike, regardless of how active the woman is on social media. Women cannot just go offline in order to avoid violence. These forms of TFGBV are linked to offline relationships with husbands and family members, and the risk factors that expose women to violence in these offline relationships are replicated in the online setting. Current or former intimate partners are the perpetrators of violence in 43% of cases.

Teenagers are particularly at risk of multiple forms of online and offline violence. Sadly, the research showed they are less likely to seek support in dealing with violence. The research did not specifically identify the reasons for lower levels of support seeking, but it could be linked to the higher levels of violence that this group of women are facing, the high risk period in their life where they are trying to find a spouse and start a family, a lack of confidence and trust in authority (both in families and society), and a high level of social expectation with which they are expected to comply. The impacts on women and girls are profound and painful and tend to lead them to retreat from online life, self-censor and not discuss sensitive topics connected with women’s rights. The research shows that as a result of TFGBV many have been driven to suicide, experienced physical violence, severe mental health issues and fear, felt unable to leave the house, had to divorce, lost custody of their children, suffered property or employment loss and had to abandon the country.

Women cannot just go offline in order to avoid violence. These forms of TFGBV are linked to offline relationships with husbands and family members, and the risk factors that expose women to violence in these offline relationships are replicated in the online setting.

The 182 cases of TFGBV identified through the interviews and the focus groups revealed two different types of common TFGBV:

• Harassment and stalking (29% of cases). This was characterised by the actions of one or two people aimed at harming a woman or a child, mainly perpetrated by someone known to the victim. Although it could result in widespread publication of materials and condemnation, it mostly involved a direct personal grievance or blackmail (20% of cases), rather than a reaction to online activity (as is the case with hate speech).
• Hate speech (25% of cases). This was characterised by a mass online reaction to content posted by the victim and was mainly perpetrated by strangers.

Table 1 gives the full breakdown on the types of violence that were reported. Some interviewees had experienced more than one case of violence, and in some cases more than one type of violence was involved in the same incident. As a result, the totals do not add up to 100%. There were 18 forms of TFGBV identified, highlighting the diversity of threats that women face through digital tools. Most of the TFGBV in Tajikistan revolves around phones, as other technology in homes and through the internet of things is not widely used. However, despite the narrower range of technology that is available and used in Tajikistan, the internationally recognised and documented types of TFGBV were found to be present, but the way that they were used could be different. For example, with location tracking instead of using trackers on cars, air tags and apps to monitor the GPS location, women will receive a video call and be asked to prove where they are by showing their surroundings to the caller.

Table 1 – Types of TFGBV

Type of violence	% of cases
Harassment and stalking	29%
Hate speech	25%
Slander and verbal abuse	23%
Blackmailing	20%
Distribution of harmful images (including threats)	18%
Distribution of intimate images (including threats)	16%
General control of all online communication	14%
Doxxing (including threats)	9%
Location tracking	8%
Hacked account (including attempts)	7%
Receiving unwanted (including sexual) photos	6%
Spyware installed on phone	6%
Receiving unwanted messages	4%
Setting up fake profiles	4%
Deep fakes (including threats)	3%
Unwanted requests for intimate photos	3%
Unwanted filming / photos / CCTV	3%
Grooming	1%

Harassment and stalking are representative of online violence that is a continuation of offline violence; while hate speech against prominent women, women discussing women’s rights and women challenging the narrative of a stereotypical Tajik woman is a means of societal control.

1. Online violence: A continuation of offline violence

Power and power exercised through control is a standard part of family relationships in Tajikistan. Girls are expected to obey their fathers and brothers and once married to obey their husbands and serve their husband’s family. This control has now extended into the realm of technology. The first layer of control is in determining whether women can own phones, whether they can have access to the internet, whether they are allowed to use social media or instead just use messaging, and if they are allowed on the internet, control over which sites they are allowed to use. Then technology is used to monitor women’s activities. Husbands have password access to their wives’ accounts, they have their wives’ messages duplicated on their laptops to allow them to read all messages in real time, they use video calls to make women prove their current location, and many have a nightly ritual of checking their wives’ telephones for messages, photos and calls received and made. This control also applies to how fathers control their daughters. Technology thus allows family members to control women’s activities, relationships, how they can access news and information, who they can engage with, in short, everything. Nothing is private for women.

There are high levels of intra-family violence in the offline sphere and this is matched in the online sphere, where 54% of cases of violence were linked to intimate partners, former intimate partners and other family members. This is double the prevalence of violence from unknown persons (27% of cases). Domestic violence remains a pervasive and deeply rooted issue in Tajikistan. Estimates suggest that up to 80% of women have experienced some form of domestic abuse in their lifetime. A 2022 UNICEF study revealed that over 40% of respondents believed that beating a woman could be justified under certain circumstances, such as refusing to obey or arguing with her husband.[2] Nearly half of the respondents also considered violence against women a family “private matter”, reflecting societal norms that often hinder intervention.[3]

The need for women to conform to societal gender-based norms and the requirement to be submissive and obedient in family relationships is reflected by the perpetrators identified in the research’s findings. Table 2 shows the perpetrators of violence. Twenty-seven percent of cases were committed by unknown people, roughly matching the prevalence of hate speech. Fifty-four percent of cases were linked to family relationships of some kind, of which 43% involved current or former intimate partners and the other 11% were related to family violence (including fathers, brothers, mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law). Six percent were perpetrated by men seeking unwanted relationships and 13% by contacts linked to work, school and general life.

There are high levels of intra-family violence in the offline sphere and this is matched in the online sphere, where 54% of cases of violence were linked to intimate partners, former intimate partners and other family members.

Table 2 – Perpetrators of violence

Perpetrator of violence	% of cases
Unknown	27%
Intimate partner	25%
Former intimate partners	18%
Other family members	11%
Men seeking unwanted relationships	6%
General acquaintances	6%
School (involving either classmates or teachers)	4%
Through business or using professional services	3%

One interviewee described her husband’s reaction when she received a message from one of her former classmates on her Facebook page. This ended up destroying a happy marriage of 17 years. Upon learning about this message, the respondent’s husband began to humiliate her, accuse her of wrongdoing, insult her, beat her and sexually abuse her. The woman endured the humiliation for a long time due to a sense of guilt. There were days when she missed work because of the beatings. Her husband took away her phone and forbade her from going to work. The woman could not prove her innocence and eventually filed for divorce. However, after the divorce, her ex-husband continued to torment her. He began to manipulate their children, sending text and WhatsApp messages, forcing their eldest daughter to report her mother’s every move. He sent WhatsApp photos of his new wife to their daughter, after which the girl had a nervous breakdown and stopped communicating with her mother.

Another interviewee provided details on how intimate partners use technology to monitor their wives, describing two cases where online and offline violence were connected:

"I know it’s quite common for Viber or WhatsApp to be connected to the desktop, with husbands monitoring their wives’ every communication. Women, due to their lack of digital literacy, may not even realise that their messages are being read. For instance, there was a young woman who was texting with her friend and they discussed her previous relationship before marriage. Her husband found out, which led to a major family argument. He beat her severely and she lost the child she was carrying. They divorced five or six months after their wedding. I know of another case where a jealous husband forced his wife to give him the password to her Facebook account, checked all her messages and treated her even more brutally. He beat her and immediately divorced her."

2. Hate speech, women’s rights and the narrative of a stereotypical Tajik woman

The overarching conclusion from the research is that there is a need (or perhaps a desire) among society, the government and individuals for women to conform. Women who do not conform (in varying ways) are in the minority. In every family and in every community, there is a defined view of what a Tajik woman should be. There may be nuances from family to family and between different geographical areas, but there is an expected profile to which women should adhere. This has always been enforced, even during women’s liberation in Soviet times, but now technology can greatly assist enforcement efforts. In circumstances that reflect tactics used in Afghanistan and Iran, women are subjected to online shaming, personal defamation, blackmailing and organised attacks, including by the police, to maintain societal order and control.

As discussed earlier, most of the online violence that women face comes from intimate partners, family members and people they know. Violence from unknown persons was reported in 27% of cases. Hate speech was reported in 25% of cases. When women faced online violence from unknown persons, this was generally in the form of hate speech, then escalating to harassment and stalking, blackmail, doxxing, and in some cases physical violence. In Tajikistan, hate speech is used to control women and enforce conformity with gender norms. In this regard, women who are willing to speak out against gender and social norms are most at risk, particularly those willing to speak out online. Many respondents noted organised attacks on women for daring to speak out, with the aim of silencing them. The most common forms of hate speech are insults and humiliations. Women were called “the shame of the family”, “tradition violators” and “shameless”, with their moral character and behaviour questioned. Activists were threatened with physical violence and rape, while slander and false information were used to undermine their reputation. In many cases the desired result was achieved and women self-censored their outputs. In this respect a clear divide was seen between rural and urban areas, with no rural women found in the research to be speaking out online. Rural areas are more conservative than urban areas. Conservative areas have higher control of women in general. Access to phones, internet and social media for women is much harder for women in rural areas. Rural areas also have rationed electricity and poor mobile phone coverage. Only 58% of the population in Tajikistan are online. Although social media usage is doubling year after year in Tajikistan, only 15% of the population are using social media, of which 24% are women.[4] So across the whole country only 7% of women are using social media, and the research would suggest that these women users are mainly urban.

The overarching conclusion from the research is that there is a need (or perhaps a desire) among society, the government and individuals for women to conform.

The state remains an active player influencing the gender order in the Republic of Tajikistan. When considering state policies, it is important to acknowledge that they are being implemented in a poor country that experienced a major war only a generation ago and where many citizens still hold deeply conservative views. As in many other countries in the region, Tajikistan’s political leaders are concerned about the growing influence of radical Islamism. This threat seems quite real for Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan, currently governed by the Taliban, especially considering that over a quarter of Afghanistan’s population is made up of ethnic Tajiks. In this situation, the Tajik government, while acting as an agent of the country’s modernisation, is forced to adopt a very cautious and measured gender policy.

In essence, it provides women with limited agency, within which their opportunities are gradually expanding, but only within defined boundaries: they should not face excessive violence, but neither should they be overly emancipated.

A clear illustration of this political course is the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on the Regulation of Ceremonies and Traditions, adopted on 19 June 2024. Section 5, Article 18 states that individuals and legal entities in Tajikistan are required to observe elements of national culture, including speaking the state language and wearing the national dress. This law specifically regulates women’s appearance, limiting both their religious freedoms and their right to self-expression.[5]

Public opinion generally does not oppose such initiatives, supporting the guidelines on appearance set by the new law, from which it is undesirable to deviate in either direction. One interviewee explained the nuances:

"[T]his is bidirectional here: girls wearing hijabs are also hated by a certain group of people. And girls who wear more casual, let’s say, freer clothes, or are, as some young people are called, “nonconformists”, also provoke aggression. God forbid a girl does a modern dance to a national song, especially if she’s dressed in something very modern like a crop top, ripped jeans or has piercings – this is when the hate just goes off the charts, even leading to direct aggression like “find and destroy”."

The adoption of this law also supports and legitimises various local initiatives aimed at restricting women’s autonomy and aligning them with conservative views on “proper” appearance, which easily turns into harassment and cyberbullying. An interviewee described how this works in practice, highlighting that:

"[A]ctivists [from conservative wings] take advantage of this by photographing women on the streets and posting [the photos] online with judgmental comments. They upload videos and photos from parties or streets without consent, showing women who are inappropriately dressed. Misogyny is rampant and these posts attract a lot of hate."

Social media and technology are used to control women and assert the patriarchal agenda and sociocultural values on the country.

The consequences for daring to speak out against gender and societal norms are huge. Another interviewee described “a young woman [who] was active on social media and expressed her views on gender equality. Her accounts were hacked and personal photos were published without her consent. This case caused her enormous stress; she was afraid to leave her house and even considered emigrating from the country."

Intersecting realities of TFGBV for women in Tajikistan

The research shows that age is an important factor in intersectionality, with students and young women particularly affected. We have seen that older women are more likely to self-censor and to post less public information online.

Teenagers are in a stage of transformation in terms of control. They are being subjected to control from their fathers and brothers, while at the same time they are exploring relationships and looking for long-term partners, and have a desire to use technology as a means of personal expression. The research showed that students in higher education faced more violence in every format; they had a much higher incidence of offline violence than other subsets; they experienced more types of TFGBV; they experienced TFGBV with great frequency; and experienced TFGBV from multiple and diverse perpetrators.

Social media and technology are used to control women and assert the patriarchal agenda and sociocultural values on the country.

The research showed that teenagers are less likely to ask for help, from either authorities or family members. This leaves them very vulnerable. One girl was being bullied at school and that bullying then moved online. An interviewee described the situation:

"[T]hey created fake accounts, posting compromising photos under her name, severely damaging her reputation at school. The girl felt increasingly isolated and many of her friends turned away from her. Her parents noticed changes in her behaviour, but the girl denied anything was wrong. She feared that seeking help would only make things worse. Eventually, the emotional strain became unbearable, and the girl tragically took her own life."

In our focus groups that included women with disabilities, we had in-depth discussions on the interconnection between disability and TFGBV.

Able-bodied participants were concerned that when women with disabilities were developing relationships online, eventually the woman’s disability would be discovered and she could be humiliated and made to feel ashamed. Able-bodied participants in the focus groups felt that women with disabilities were more susceptible to TFGBV, as these women are seen by society as more trusting and therefore likely to be deceived; upholding stereotypes that women with disabilities need protection. The perceived vulnerability of these women and the desire to protect them mirrors current offline stereotypes of women with disabilities, where they are discouraged from leaving the house or from social interactions as a means to protect them from exploitation.

Women with disabilities in the focus groups had experienced TFGBV, but the research did not find a higher incidence of TFGBV against women with disabilities. One woman with a disability described being contacted online by a stranger who was demanding money. Another participant recounted the experience of one disabled woman who was deceived online. She trusted a man, became pregnant with his child out of wedlock and then attempted suicide. The focus groups highlighted, as a positive aspect, that women with a disability are able to meet potential husbands through online chats, where they can express themselves and their personality with freedom, without having to contend with negative stereotypes that define and control women with disabilities.

Rural communities are tightly knit with high connectedness within the population. Participants in the focus groups described how technology can enable slander and defamation to spread quickly through these communities. Rural women spoke about the importance of online communication to keep in touch with male relatives who had migrated to Russia for work. Participants also explained how technology allowed men to control their wives from abroad. Most participants felt that technology had brought negative impacts on their family relationships and recounted many examples of families destroyed as a result of TFGBV. From the perspective of these participants, technology puts additional pressure on marital and family relationships. Women have greater freedom to communicate with others which contravenes the societal desire for patriarchal control. Plus it provides a new means for amplifying family problems, gossip and compromising photos.

Ethnicity also played a role in TFGBV, with the research identifying violence against Tajik women who spoke in Russian and ethnic Russians living in Tajikistan. In both cases, these women were seen as not complying with the social norm of a proper Tajik woman and faced online abuse as a result. Specific impact due to Uzbek ethnicity was not identified. Persons of other ethnicities living in Tajikistan did not participate or did not share their ethnicity during the research process.

Magnification of impact

Technology in Tajikistan is being used as a means to further control over women, both in the family and in society. In society there is a very important dynamic of “being seen”, being visible.[6] This dynamic involves exhibiting visible religious piety, external conformance with traditions and norms and visibility in good deeds such as caring for the sick or for elderly relatives. This visibility also extends to the concept of shame, where public shaming is used as a control method. The impact of technology means that visibility is now possible on a much larger scale. The use of social media and messaging apps can amplify a personal projection of individual visibility, but it also amplifies negative reactions to a person (often a woman) and reactions to perceived non-conformance by an individual.

In Tajikistan there has always been a strong element of shame in the efforts to control women. Women are afraid of bringing shame upon their families, and threats that their actions will result in shame allow others to control women’s behaviour. There is a very strong personal connection with shame, and women adapt their behaviour so as not to feel shame. In this respect, offline violence creates shame within a private and limited setting. If a woman is abused in the home, she can try to hide this from her neighbours, from her work colleagues and from her wider family. However, when the abuse is public, online for everyone to see, this violence can have a much greater impact on the woman as it affects her public, “visible” persona. This has allowed for family violence to escalate into a much more public space. It is important to make this connection between the online and offline violence experienced by women.

The online space is perceived as a new public sphere where the same norms and rules of gender behaviour, characteristic of society as a whole, apply, along with all their conflicts and contradictions. The difference, however, lies in the fact that all these contradictions, typical of the transition from a traditional gender order to a post-traditional one, are greatly magnified on digital platforms. They become more pronounced, attracting many participants to the discussion who may be even more uncompromising than in “ordinary” life. In this situation, numerous voluntary “guardians” of gender norms emerge, actively fighting to control women’s behaviour by using various TFGBV mechanisms, particularly employing shaming of women as a means of control.

If a woman is abused in the home, she can try to hide this from her neighbours, from her work colleagues and from her wider family. However, when the abuse is public, online for everyone to see, this violence can have a much greater impact on the woman as it affects her public, “visible” persona. This has allowed for family violence to escalate into a much more public space.

What is missing in our discourse on TFGBV?

Our habits with technology

The research showed that those who speak out on women’s rights are targeted by hate campaigns as are those who do not conform with the stereotype of a Tajik woman. However, the majority of cases are from intimate partners and family members who are using social media and digital tools as a continuum of offline violence. 

Much of the discourse around TFGBV is about different social media platforms, the amount of time you spend online, and having good digital hygiene to keep yourself safe. Our research shows that the amount of time you spend online does not necessarily determine whether you will suffer from online violence. Instead, offline relationships are much more of a factor in this. In the research, the social media platform that was used for violence was the platform where the perpetrator or the victim was present. It could be in a WhatsApp family group chat or on social media, with Instagram being more popular with younger people and Facebook more popular for older people. The general trends in overall social media and digital communications reflect how TFGBV will be manifested. 

Efforts to teach women online safety need to be matched to local context. The research showed that control is part of a known social contract between families. According to an interviewee, “There’s a new trend wherein a groom sets conditions for the bride before marriage: no social media accounts, no posting of photos and no using messaging apps.” Full control of all digital interactions of the future wife is now almost a condition of the marriage contract. Another interviewee provides more details:

"[P]reviously, some agreements would be made before marriage and in-laws would give guarantees, such as allowing the bride to continue her studies or work. Nowadays, her participation in the online space can be the subject of the agreement. They might allow or forbid her to use a smartphone or determine whether she will be allowed to have her own social media account or not. After the wedding, the woman must provide full access to all her devices. For example, if you have a social media account, you give your husband the phone password and the account password."

This shows the interlinked nature of TFGBV, where violence offline and online are a continuum, not something that women encounter online for the first time after they have accessed technology. Even the ways in which women access technology are subject to violence; with fear and with no privacy or power of ownership.

Control over women via digital devices has been firmly incorporated into everyday life in Tajikistan, and it has become a routine practice. It is effectively an element of the gender regimes of many families. Under these conditions, digital hygiene measures like changing your password and checking who has access to your photos and content are not relevant, as access to private spaces has already been provided and is an explicit part of a marital agreement. More useful to women and girls would be education on how to navigate within these boundaries and for young men and women to determine how their relationship can be based on trust and not control.

Even the ways in which women access technology are subject to violence; with fear and with no privacy or power of ownership.

Sharing of intimate images was mainly perpetrated by intimate partners or former intimate partners. The creation and existence of these images were often part of a marriage and shared consensually. Tajikistan has one of the largest migrant workforces in the world, with a high percentage of men working abroad to send remittances to their families. Under these conditions, women either consensually or under pressure as part of “marital relationships” send intimate images to their husbands. These images are then used to control women and as a means of revenge. This again demonstrates the need to match online safety measures to local context.

The impact of the response to TFGBV

The local community, unfortunately, does not always side with the victim. This aligns with views on offline violence where both men and women condone violence against women, particularly in the case of perceived mistakes in conduct and in connection with household tasks and child rearing.

In order to be condemned, TFGBV has to cross the boundary of what is considered “acceptable” and “explainable” in the context of the patriarchal logic, for example if the victim dies or is severely injured. If the issue concerns reputational damage, the victim is often blamed for ruining her own reputation, while the perpetrators actions are treated with sympathy. Also, due to social acceptance of violence and the social stigma of speaking out against violence, there is a lack of understanding and knowledge regarding the worst cases of violence. Society protects itself from the reality of violence by suppressing the public discussion of the worst cases of violence, for example sexual violence against minors including incest. This results in a lack of “evidence” and people choosing to believe that it is not a problem.

As outlined in Table 3, the research showed a correlation between the type of perpetrator of TFGBV and whether the woman received support or condemnation from friends and family.

Table 3 – Women receiving support or condemnation by perpetrator type

	Women supported by family and friends	Women condemned by family and friends
Percent of cases from unknown perpetrators	58	36
Percent of cases from intimate partners	25	64
Percent of cases from men seeking unwanted relationships	17	0

Of all the cases, 12 women reported general support and 14 women reported condemnation from friends and family. Of those that received support, 58% of such cases involved perpetrators who were not known to the women. Of those that were condemned, 64% of these cases involved husbands or ex-husbands. The women interviewed reported that when they were not supported this was a continuation of the violation of trust that had occurred with the initial violence.

One interviewee explained the additional pain that was caused as a result of relatives, acquaintances and society judging her and blaming her for the violence:

[M]y photos were still circulating on the internet and every time I went outside, I felt the judgmental and disdainful stares. I had to move to another country to try to start over. I knew that I had permanently lost a part of my life, trust in people and confidence in myself. […] I face opposition and condemnation almost at every step. In our society, people often tend to blame the victim rather than seek justice. There is a stereotype that if something like this happens, the woman herself is to blame – she “dressed inappropriately”, “behaved inappropriately” or “provoked it”. These words hit like blows to a wound that hasn’t yet healed. When all this happened, many people who learned about my story through the internet believed what they saw in those fake photos and videos. They judged me, talked behind my back, saying I deserved what happened. Some acquaintances and even relatives turned their backs on me. I became an outcast, without even getting a chance to explain. It was unbearably painful because in such moments, what you need most is support, not judgment.

There are many cases of obsessive cyber control leading to real physical violence from family members. Since husbands and fathers are viewed by the local community as legitimate authorities, their “corrective” actions often go unchallenged and are even seen as preserving the existing (patriarchal) gender order. Both the family environment and the reaction of local communities in Tajikistan currently offer little protection for victims of TFGBV.

This highlights response as a major factor in mitigating the impact of TFGBV. The victim needs to feel able to contact law enforcement authorities – this is particularly difficult for those who are victims of intimate image abuse or for younger women. There is a lot of international discourse about the need to punish TFGBV perpetrators. However these laws become redundant if women do not want to report cases. 

As well as the response from law enforcement, the reaction from our own friends and families is equally if not more important. To feel supported helps to overcome the trauma, whilst to be condemned compounds it.

Recommendations:

• Match digital security training to local contexts. For example, teaching women to change their passwords and have double layers of security wont help if she is obliged to tell her husband her password and her husband is the perpetrator of violence. Relationship skills are much more important in this instance. For example, in Tajikistan, how can I build trust in my marriage so that my online life is not under complete scrutiny? How can I refuse to send intimate photos to my husband without causing problems in my marriage? How can I remove my husband from my social media accounts without our marriage breaking down?
• Remember, a woman’s personal presence online is not a determining factor in whether she will be a victim of TFGBV. Whether you participate or not, online life continues around you. Technology can be and is used to shame, incite violence and be violent against a woman even if she removes herself from being online.
• Look for the root causes of TFGBV rather than manifestations and platforms. The platforms on which violence takes place are generally a reflection of where the interactions in a community are occurring. Similarly with manifestations of TFGBV, this tends to reflect the technology that is present and used within a specific community or country, rather than being specifically designed better or worse to facilitate violence. If we change our focus to the root causes of violence, then our approach is likely to be more sustainable as it is resilient to changes in technology.
• In responding to TFGBV we need law enforcement agencies to be informed and, as with offline violence, to not take a victim-blaming approach. There need to be women officers to deal with sensitive cases including intimate photos and to work with teenage girls and students. In Tajikistan, whilst there are not specific laws on TFGBV, for most cases of TFGBV there is an existing law that can be used to prosecute the violence. There are issues around reporting violence and encouraging women to report violence, both online and offline. Focus should be placed on improving the reporting of violence, to enable women to seek justice, and which in turn will act as a deterrent and prevent violence.

Overall

Overall women wanted us to highlight just how damaging TFGBV is. One woman interviewed said, “I am drowning under the weight of hatred.” Another interviewee said, “I want people to understand that cyber violence is not just words on a screen. These are real feelings, real pain and suffering.” A third interviewee said, “I dream of a world where women can freely express their thoughts without fear of violence.”