SafeOnline Women Kenya (SOW-Kenya)

Introducing the SOW-Kenya Board of Directors 2026–2028. 🙌 Five brilliant minds. One mission, a safer internet for women and girls. Welcome Irene, Muthuri, Leticia, Victor & Cherie. We are just getting started. #SOWKenya #SafeHer #DigitalRights #TFGBV

If you are a #funder, #academic institution, research organisation, #fellowship programme, or employer working in this space, let us talk or kindly point me in the right direction.

See the impact here: sow-kenya.org For the organisation, I am looking for #grants, #funding partnerships, and tech #collaborations to #scale this work. For myself, I am actively seeking #research roles, and #fellowships in platform accountability, AI governance #TFGBV

How am I solving technology-facilitated gender-based violence? At SOW-Kenya, I co-created #SafeHer, a survivor-centred safety app now live on Google Play, and #TechSecure Literacy Curriculum, a digital safety curriculum that has trained over 1,000 women across Kenya.

We thank the MERL Tech Initiative,for two days of substantive, thoughtful facilitation. What we are taking back: → A draft AI use policy for the organisation → An assessment framework for evaluating AI tools before integrating them into MERL delivery workflows

The bootcamp covers how #AI fits across the full #MERL lifecycle, how to evaluate AI-enabled programmes, how to navigate the ethics, and how to build the policies that keep organisations accountable.We work at the intersection of #technology and gender-based violence.

3. The framework for assessing AI use in #MERL introduced this afternoon will be directly applicable as we evaluate how AI features in #SafeHer should be monitored over time.

2. #AI across the MERL lifecycle is not one intervention, it behaves differently depending on where you are in a programme cycle. The bootcamp helped clarify where it genuinely adds value versus where it introduces #risk.

Lessons from the The MERL Tech Initiative Bootcamp: 1. Data #sovereignty is a power question, not a technical one. When organisations working with vulnerable populations adopt AI tools, they must interrogate who holds, processes, and profits from that data.

🚀Africa's digital boom is fuelling a rise in Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV). Platform design, weak moderation, and Artificial Intelligence(AI) trained on western data leaves women,especially journalists, activists & politicians,exposed. From the webinar Advancing Platform Accountability for Women's Online Safety in Africa, key recommendations: 🔹 Hire African content moderators with linguistic & cultural expertise. 🔹 Mandate algorithmic transparency & local platform presence. 🔹 Equip policymakers to understand algorithmic systems. 🔹 Fund women's rights orgs for survivor support. 🔹 Build users' digital resilience. Access the full article here:tinyurl.com/wyfdvyur #BeSafeByDesign

Second, how do we conduct rigorous MERL of programmes that use AI, like #chatbots in health, digital safety tools, or AI-assisted documentation platforms?

The bootcamp addresses two interconnected questions that are directly relevant to our work: First, how do we apply AI responsibly and critically across the #MERL lifecycle, from programme design through data collection, analysis, and learning?

We are at the The MERL Tech Initiative AI + Africa Programme for the #AI for Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning Bootcamp. Our MERL Officer, Marinette Sophie, is in the room alongside practitioners from international development, humanitarian, and social impact spaces.

"Technology-facilitated violence is now a core human rights issue - not a “digital nuisance.” Cyber harassment, doxxing, and image-based abuse are extensions of structural gender inequality. 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬." - Brenda Yambo

Africa's digital future needs more than technology. It needs policy. Rights. Inclusion. That's why we are delighted @cipesaug is sponsoring #AfTPS2026 their work on ICT policy, governance, and human rights in Africa is exactly the foundation these conversations need. 📅 19–21 May | Nairobi + Virtual 🔗 Register: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regist… #KeIGF26 #DigitalAfrica #InternetGovernance

Happening Today! Join us for an engaging and timely conversation on Digital Rights and Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV), led by our Executive Director

OUTPACED BY ITS OWN AMBITION: CAN KENYA BRIDGE ITS AI REGULATION GAP? Kenya recorded the world's highest Artificial Intelligence( AI )tool usage rate in 2025,yet ranks 93rd in the Government AI Readiness Index. The country is sprinting ahead in AI adoption while its regulation struggles to keep up. Without deliberate, inclusive, and rights-centred governance, AI risks entrenching authoritarianism and exacerbating inequalities." Momentum without action will not work. Kenya must act now. Read about the a human rights–centred approach to AI governance here: tinyurl.com/3vwsefta 🖊️: Raylenne Kambua #InternetFreedomAfrica

In this regard, participation by Safe Online Women Kenya is valuable, particularly given our role in promoting online safety and digital resilience within communities.

CT TECH+ seeks to enhance law enforcement capacity to respond to the evolving use of new and emerging technologies – including artificial intelligence, encrypted #platforms, and digital financial instruments – for terrorist purposes.

We are participating in the CT TECH+ Tabletop Exercise (TTX): Strengthening Cooperation Between Law Enforcement Agencies and Technology Companies,in Nairobi, Kenya organized by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT/UNOCT) in collaboration with INTERPOL and EU.