DVAW IN CONFLICT ZONES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Introduction
This paper examines digital violence against women (DVAW) in conflict zones in the Middle East and
North Africa (MENA). It uses Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Libya and Palestine as models for study. Since
the outbreak of the "Arab Spring" in 2011, many MENA countries have witnessed unprecedented
political, economic and social transformations. These shifts have led to political instability in countries
such as Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria. Others have slipped into civil wars and armed conflicts, including the
countries examined in this paper. The Palestinian case is distinct, as its conflict is not internal but rather
a territorial dispute with the occupying state of Israel stretching over more than 70 years.
The paper is based on a series of 20+ studies of DVAW in the MENA region, conducted between 2022
and 2024 by The SecDev Foundation, most with support from the Canadian International Development
Research Centre (IDRC). This series includes eight studies on our six focus countries, all published on
SecDev’s website. Seven additional in-depth reports were produced in partnership between SecDev
and the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), and these are available on the ARIJ website.
The SecDev studies addressed topics such as the legal and institutional context of DVAW in conflictaffected countries. One study focused on digital violence targeting women leaders and featured
contributions from women with extensive experience in community, political, human rights, and media
work. Another study examined digital violence against widowed women in camps in northern Syria,
featuring interviews with women who had lived in these camps and bore witness to their conditions. A
further study looked at DVAW in historical Palestine, exploring the historical context of the fragmented
and complex Palestinian political landscape and the governmental and institutional approaches toward
each Palestinian region. It also analyzed the dynamics established by the Israeli occupation to fragment
society and deepen divisions, as methods of control and violence disproportionately affect women.
The ARIJ investigations addressed the issue of electronic blackmail targeting women with disabilities in
Yemen; how female journalists in Palestine work without the Internet after Israel cut off
communications; how the occupation digitally isolated Gazans from their families; how Sudanese female
journalists face threats of persecution and murder due to their political affiliations; how harassment and
death threats affect female football players in Sudan; how ethnic nationalism threatens the work of
female journalists in Syria; and how minors fall victim to cybercrimes in Syria as well.
All these studies and investigations document and analyze the reality of DVAW in conflict zones in the
region, which of course did not start with the beginning of today’s conflicts. Rather, DVAW has roots
reaching into the patriarchal culture of those societies, in which the current state of political, security
and economic fragility and the rise of religious fundamentalism have greatly contributed to rising
severity of digital violence, along with the inability of any of those countries to confront it or find
effective mechanisms to limit it.
4