Ethiopian Women Activists Forced to Flee Country Due to Escalating Digital Violence
Addis Ababa, 2 April 2026
A coordinated campaign of digital violence has forced several Ethiopian women’s rights activists into exile over the past two years. Activist Yordanos Bezabih fled in August 2025 after a 6,000-member Telegram group tracked her location and shared deepfakes, followed by a break-in and laptop theft. The harassment escalated when private information was circulated with demands for her execution, highlighting how technology-facilitated gender-based violence has become normalised in Ethiopia.
Pattern of Escalating Threats Forces Exodus
The case of Yordanos Bezabih exemplifies a disturbing pattern affecting Ethiopian women’s rights defenders. In April 2025, an anonymous Telegram group with 6,000 subscribers organised a coordinated effort to track down her location whilst sharing deepfakes of the activist [1]. The situation deteriorated further during summer 2025 when Bezabih’s house was broken into, her laptop stolen, and her Telegram account subsequently hacked [1]. Following these incidents, her private photographs and messages were circulated online, with her home address posted alongside demands for her ‘execution’ [1]. Bezabih departed Ethiopia in August 2025 on a human rights defenders fellowship and has not returned due to ongoing safety concerns [1]. ‘I have been forced to remain outside the country in order to protect my safety and continue my work,’ Bezabih stated [1].
Feminist Identity Becomes Target for Violence
The targeting extends beyond individual activists to encompass broader feminist movements within Ethiopia. In 2023, activists Lella Misikir and Setaset Power launched the ‘My Whistle, My Voice’ campaign to combat street harassment, encouraging women to use red whistles when experiencing catcalling [1]. A TikTok video promoting the campaign garnered nearly 400,000 views but triggered a severe backlash, including insults and accusations of lesbianism and feminism [1]. The harassment intensified when a prominent TikTok influencer publicly outed Lella Misikir as gay, particularly damaging given that homosexuality remains illegal in Ethiopia [1]. The online abuse escalated to include attempts to locate Misikir’s home address, ultimately forcing her to leave Ethiopia in November 2024 [1]. Maya Misikir, Lella’s sister, observed that ‘If you self-describe as a feminist, then you become a target, as that word is associated nowadays with anti-Ethiopian values and traditions, against the core family unit’ [1].
Systemic Platform Failures Enable Abuse
The crisis reflects broader institutional failures in addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) in Ethiopia. A 2024 report by the Centre for Information Resilience found that TFGBV has become ‘normalised to the point of invisibility’ within the country [1]. Research indicates that up to 60% of women worldwide experience this form of abuse annually, making it a global phenomenon with particular intensity in Ethiopia [1]. Activists report systematic failures by social media platforms to respond to harassment reports. ‘Even though they claim to have all these community guidelines, tech platforms never respond to reports, claims or even appeals,’ Bezabih noted [1]. The situation echoes earlier concerns about Facebook’s role in Ethiopia, with the platform facing accusations approximately three years prior to March 2026 of allowing unchecked hate speech amid violence against ethnic Tigrayans [1].
Implications for Ethiopian Civil Society and Regional Stability
The exodus of women’s rights defenders represents a significant loss for Ethiopian civil society at a time when the country faces multiple internal challenges. Maya Misikir reported that targeted online campaigns against feminists began in 2023, creating a systematic pattern of harassment that has driven activists from the country [1]. One anonymous activist described the psychological toll: ‘I felt very burnt-out and wanted to leave the country for a while, having spent a lot of time online, with so much hate speech, so much violence, targeted violence, against you and people very close to you’ [1]. The targeting of Ethiopian women’s rights defenders occurs within a broader context of regional instability that affects refugee populations in neighbouring countries, including those in camps such as Kakuma and Kalobeyei. As Ethiopia continues to be a significant source of refugees, the suppression of civil society voices and human rights defenders potentially undermines efforts to address root causes of displacement and conflict within the Horn of Africa region [GPT].