‘Normalised and invisible’: Online abuse targets Ethiopian women

Betelehem Akalework and her colleagues have received serious threats online and physical harassment after they engaged in social media activism regarding women's rights. — Image by pressfoto on Freepik

ADDIS ABABA: Influential Ethiopian women's rights activist Betelehem Akalework says she has been forced to move home twice in two years after enduring a barrage of online abuse, death threats and physical harassment.

She and her colleagues use social media to advocate for gender equality online by challenging gender norms and attitudes towards women in Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation.