Nairobi’s young people took center stage during this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, driving forward a powerful call to end abuse in digital spaces. Organized by UNESCO in partnership with UNICAF, the youth capacity-building forum brought together 40 young leaders, law enforcement, legal experts, and GBV response actors under the theme “Youth Capacity Building on Ending Digital Violence.
The forum came at a critical moment. The Presidential Taskforce on GBV including Femicide (2025) was established in response to an alarming rise in both offline and online gender-based violence as well as femicide cases, resulting from normalized harmful gender norms.The opening session featured welcoming remarks from Winnie Rachel, Country Manager at UNICAF Kenya, who called for more investment in powering youth‑led responses to gender‑based violence and digital safety, before emphasizing UNICAF’s commitment to continue providing safe spaces for youth learning and dialogue. David Onyango, Programme Officer at UNESCO Social and Human Sciences, Regional Office for Eastern Africa highlighted in his remarks that misinformation, disinformation and deepfake were growing risks for online safety, especially among youth, and particularly during politically sensitive periods. He indicated that the trends in AI are making the risks even bigger, especially on social media. He recalled gender equality as a global priority for UNESCO and reiterated the importance of ensuring that the youth are well informed, prepared, and empowered to recognize GBV, understand its causes and manifestations both online and offline, and respond appropriately, decisively and responsibly.
The session brought experts from the DCI- Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit, FIDA‑Kenya POLICARE, and HAK 1195 to underscore how online violence frequently escalates into real‑world harm, affecting mental health, safety, education, and economic and physical wellbeing.
Mutisya Mueni from the DCI Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit provided a comprehensive understanding of Technology-Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TFGBV), which she defined as violence committed or amplified through digital technologies based on gender, before enlightening participants with the full spectrum of TFGBV, ranging from cyberbullying, cyberstalking, doxing, and online harassment and abuse to hate speech, hacking and deepfake, including AI‑generated sexual imagery and even sextortion. She emphasized the importance of consent and responsible digital behavior, recalling that “ignorance of the law is no defense.”
Interactions with youth participants highlighted the underreporting of GBV against men and boys, linked to stigma and rigid gender expectations. They shared about the vulnerability of youth, especially young women navigating social media and dating platforms, uncovering emerging SRHR risks online, including coerced content sharing and digital manipulation. They also emphasized the urgent need for better data collection, especially in universities, TVETs, and secondary schools, where TFGBV and SRHR issues remain largely undocumented, contrasting with growing prevalence.
Building survivor-centred competences was key, with the intervention from Mr. Daniel M. Wathome, Vice Chair of the POLICARE National Technical Committee outlining efforts to expand coordinated, survivor-centred services and plans for specialized GBV courts, bringing together insights from police services, healthcare providers, legal actors, counsellors, and community partners under one roof to ensure dignity, safety, and timely support for survivors.
Dennis Owuor (FIDA‑Kenya) zoomed into gaps in Kenya’s legal protections due to rapid technology advancement including AI, pointing particularly challenges around revenge pornography, deepfakes, and digital consent, inviting urgent legislative reform for better prevention, protection, redress, including support and safeguarding mechanisms.
HAK 1195 shared national reporting trends, revealing that women aged 18–35 remain the most affected, with Nairobi recording the highest number of cases. Youth participants noted persistent barriers to reporting, including fear, social stigma, and limited awareness of support mechanisms.
A standout moment was the presentation by Mr Tonny Olela of UNESCO’s Transforming MENtalities, followed by a dialogue that uncovered how harmful gender norms, economic pressures, and restricted emotional spaces affect young men. Participants affirmed that promoting positive masculinities is essential to preventing violence and building safer digital and physical communities.
Across discussions, Nairobi youth called for increased digital safety education in schools and universities. They urged for more youth-led advocacy campaigns, stronger laws addressing TFGBV, expanded mental health and SRHR support, and made a national push to collect age- and gender-disaggregated data on GBV, SRHR, and online harms involving young people.
The dialogue reinforced the need for transforming masculinity as an essential step to ending GBV and building safer, more equitable communities. Female participants emphasized during the session that “When men change, societies heal.”
The forum ended with a clear message resonating: the fight against GBV—online and offline—cannot be won without young people.
As Kenya advances with the implementation of its Male Engagement and Inclusion Strategy 2025-2029 and unpacks the recently released recommendations of the GBV and Femicide Taskforce, youth should be positioned not just as beneficiaries of policy, but as architects of a safer, more equitable digital future.
Source: UNESCO
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