Catholic Sisters’ Network in Kenya Raises Concern Over Rise in Online Harassment Targeting Religious

“No excuse for online abuse,” the network emphasizes in its campaign hashtag for the GBV awareness initiative set to conclude on December 10, adding that the activism serves as a call for everyone “to challenge digital violence in all its forms.”

It further invites the People of God to use the campaign period as an opportunity to renew their commitment to building “a world where every woman, whether consecrated or lay, can participate safely in public life” without fear of intimidation or digital attacks.

Meanwhile, in an interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the ongoing meeting for communication coordinators and directors of Catholic-owned television and radio stations in Africa, a Consulter of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication (DFC), echoed the concerns raised by CNS regarding gender-based violence against women Religious.

“It is a concern. We face it,” Sr. Adelaide Felicitas Ndilu said during the November 26 interview at the Mariapolis Piero Centre in Kenya’s Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi (ADN), noting that the tendency is for women to be abused online and called all sorts of names.

The attacks “continue to happen, even to religious women,” the Kenyan-born member of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) said, recalling her personal experience as a student at a local institution of higher learning.

“I also faced the same. My classmates couldn’t understand me. And because we had a social media messaging page, you could see some of them very indirectly talking about me and calling me names,” she recalled.

“The society seems to have given us, as religious women, a certain place, and whenever we try to lift our heads above the space it has confined us to, we are pushed back into it,” the IHM member said.

She also weighed in on the issues of deepfake manipulation and identity theft, where individuals impersonate the consecrated women or use the imagery and symbols of religious life to attract followers on digital platforms.

“We have people who use the identity of sisters to communicate on social media or even to get likes and followers, which is, in a way, very dangerous,” Sr. Adelaide said.

She added, “They may appear to start well, but from the beginning, their actions are misleading. They present themselves as part of a sisterhood to attract followers, often with the aim of gaining money or influence. Once they have a following, they reveal their true selves—their real intentions and who they truly are.”