Cybercrime is broadly classified into three categories of crime against individuals, crime against organizations and crime against society.
Unlike organizations, individuals are usually ill equipped to tackle cybercrime and this is because they usually lack sufficient information, guidance and cyber-security awareness to safeguard themselves against cyber-attacks while organizations, employ cyber-security professionals, mechanisms and tools to safeguard institutional data and networks thus making them less prone to successful cyber-attacks.
According to Cybersecurity Ventures (a leading cybercrime magazine), it is predicated that women will represent 30% of the global cybersecurity workforce by 2025 and 35% by 2030. These findings are in tandem with global workforce statistics for women in the Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines where they represent 28% of the global STEM workforce.
Additional findings published by the Infosecurity Magazine place the global percentage of female cyber-criminals at approximately 30%. This confirms that the buoyant global cyber-security industry (predictive solutions and crimes market), is largely male dominated.
Gender-based cybercrime, is defined as gender-based violence that is carried out using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Gender-based cyber-crime usually coexists with gender-based violence carried out through “traditional” means. It includes acts of sextortion, sexting, cyberbullying/harassment, trafficking, cyber stalking, cyber defamation etc.
A report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2022 combating Cyber Violence against Women and Girls, estimates that atleast 1 in 10 women will have already experienced some form of cyber violence since the age of 15. This figure is expected to increase with increased access to the internet.
While gender-based cyber-crime can affect both men and women, online statistics reveal that women and girls are more vulnerable. Clear statistics on gender-based cyber-crime in Uganda are not readily available. However, a quick internet search reveals that acts of revenge pornography” as well as online acts against underage girls are on the rise in Uganda.
It is also not uncommon to see Ugandans liking and freely sharing online content of victims of gender-based cyber-crime. This contributes to cyber-shaming and social network bullying which further aggravates the situation and traumatizes victims.
In order to address cyber-crime in Europe, the Council of Europes Budapest Convention was established in 2004 as a treaty seeking to address internet and computer crime by harmonizing national laws, improving investigation techniques and increasing cooperation amongst European nations.
The United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU), has also established a number of instruments that UN member states can use to develop Acts/Laws, policies, standards, guidelines & procedures for cyber-security. However, these instruments fall short of providing adequate protection for vulnerable groups particularly women and children.
Upon observing the gaps in international legislative instruments, the Law Commission of England and Wales recommended reforms that would make it easier to prosecute sharing non-consensual images and deepfake pornography, crimes which disproportionately affect women
The Republic of Uganda equally established legislative instruments for tackling cyber-crime in Uganda. These include;
The National Cyber-Security Strategy of Uganda (2022)
The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Act (2022)
The Electronic Transactions Act, 2011
The Electronic Signatures Act, 2011
The Anti-Pornography Act (Commencement) Instrument, 2014.
Just like the international legislative instruments, the National Cyber-Security Strategy (2022) and the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Act (2022) both mention gender” but have no elaborate “clause” for tackling gender-based cyber-crime in Uganda.
Recommendations:
Ugandas legislative instruments on cyber-security should be revisited to clearly outline how the growing problem of gender-based cyber-crime will be addressed. Uganda can bench-mark how the Law Commission of England and Wales revised UK cyber-security laws to address gender-based cyber-crime.
Ugandas National CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) should establish a desk that focuses on monitoring attacks against individuals with emphasis on gender related cyber-attacks. At present, the National CERT focuses mainly on monitoring cyber-attacks against government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (attacks against organizations).
Gender experts in Uganda should work with the Ministry of ICT & NG to develop a “gender-based cyber-crime toolkit” or make recommendations to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to clearly address gender-based cyber-crime in the ITU cyber-crime toolkit.
Develop and implement a national gender-based cyber-crime awareness initiative.
Written by Mugabi Samuel
The writer is a digital literacy enthusiast and Director ICT, Makerere University.
