By Reitz
In the last 7 months, 40 female journalists across the country have undergone a rigorous fellowship focussed on understanding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital tools.
At the centre of the training sessions was the rise of Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TFGBV), painting a sad picture of how women remain the key target and largest victims.
“Although women journalists in Kenya are increasingly embracing digital tools, they still experience cyber bullying, harassment, suffer burnout from the demands of long hours of digital journalism… and are under-represented in decision making and digital transformation initiatives,” the report dubbed Women journalists and Tech reads in part.
Speaking at the launch on March 7 2025, IAWRT Kenya Chairperson Josephine Karani highlighted the organisation’s broader work on mentorship and skills development, saying IAWRT has pioneered mentorship programmes and works with institutions training journalists, a foundation on which expanded training (including on AI and digital tools) is built.
Drawing on findings and case documentation compiled by IAWRT Kenya in this and previous TFGBV reporting initiatives, trainers walked participants through real scenarios involving online impersonation, non-consensual image manipulation, and digital smear campaigns targeting women in media.
Among examples given include the viral use of Grok on X where users undressed women and posted these photos online.
Another example was how online users shared contacts of female journalist Yvonne Owkwara during the Gen Z protest frenzy, infringing her privacy while violating data law.
The chapter has previously highlighted patterns of online abuse against female journalists in Kenya, noting how political reporting and gender rights coverage often trigger coordinated harassment, doxxing and reputational attacks.
The trainers stretching from Google, KictaNet zeroed in on how innocently sharing personal information like where one lives, their phone number, child’s school or even story one is covering can make one a target.
In one such spirited session however, the trainers revealed how journalists can protect themselves online by limiting the amount of personal information shared.
To curb this, the journalists were taught on how to recognise deepfakes, fake profiles and how to safely store abusive messages that can be used as evidence in a court of law.
By centering AI literacy as a safety tool, the training reframed technology from a source of vulnerability to a line of defence.
Participants learned how to verify synthetic content, preserve digital evidence, monitor bot activity and reduce their digital footprint.
These practical skills lower risk while strengthening investigative capacity.
