Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025)
Analysing Digital Solidarity and Offline Mobilisation: A Policy Analysis of Nigeria's #WeAreTired Feminist Movement
Abstract
This policy analysis examines the strategic interplay between digital activism and offline mobilisation within Nigeria’s #WeAreTired feminist movement from 2021 to 2026. It addresses the critical research problem of how digital tools translate into tangible policy influence within an African context marked by digital divides and state ambivalence towards gender justice. Employing a qualitative case study methodology, the analysis draws upon digital ethnography of social media platforms, semi-structured interviews with 22 movement organisers, and a systematic review of policy documents and media reports. The findings reveal that #WeAreTired functioned as a dynamic ecosystem where online solidarity, built through shared narratives of gender-based violence, was deliberately channelled into coordinated offline actions, including protests and targeted stakeholder engagements. This hybrid synergy proved instrumental in pressuring authorities to revisit legislative frameworks, notably influencing parliamentary debates and public discourse around the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act. The article contends that the movement’s efficacy hinges on this iterative model, which skilfully adapts global feminist digital practices to local Nigerian socio-political realities. Its significance lies in proposing a policy-focused framework for analysing African feminist movements, demonstrating that sustainable change necessitates both supporting digital infrastructure and legally protecting physical assembly. The analysis concludes with implications for policymakers and civil society, advocating for integrated strategies that recognise and fortify this digital-offline nexus to advance women’s rights.
Read the Full Article
The HTML galley is loaded below for inline reading and better discovery.
How to Cite
Keywords
Research Snapshot
Desktop reading viewReferences
- Ajose, T.S. (2024). Performing Spiritual Solidarity: Christian Music and #EndSARS Protest in Nigeria. Journal of African Cultural Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2024.2391748
- Atim, G. (2025). Eastern Market Women Activism in Colonial Nigeria. Routledge Handbook of Contemporary African Women. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003413820-23
- Ayuningrum, C.K., & Novia, S. (2024). Social movements and digital activism in Africa. Social Movement Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2024.2421969
- Baran, S. (2025). BRICS Expansion: Emerging of New Semi-Peripheries or Sub-Imperialism? A Comparative Analysis of Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa. Journal of Asian and African Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096251336371
- Bashri, M. (2025). CONTESTING BOUNDARIES: GENDERED CITIZENSHIP AND DIGITAL ACTIVISM IN SUDAN. Feminist Digital Citizenship in Africa. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350500495.ch-10
- Bergère, C. (2025). #GUINEENNEDU21ESIECLE AND THE RADICAL POTENTIAL OF FEMINIST ACTIVISM IN CONTEMPORARY GUINEA. Feminist Digital Citizenship in Africa. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350500495.ch-6
- Brudvig, I. (2025). Toward a Feminist Digital Ethnography: Navigating Ethics, Reflexivity and Representation at the Frontier of Online and Offline Spaces. Qualitative Methods for Digital Social Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-9843-8_4
- Cheema, M. (2025). Contemporary Feminist Activism in Pakistan: The Online, Offline Continuum. Dissenting Counter-Publics in Pakistani Social Media and Café Culture. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-05522-4_4
- Duvenage, E. (2025). I dream of silicon valleys in Nigeria, Morocco and other African countries. Nature Africa. https://doi.org/10.1038/d44148-025-00170-w
- Ifeanyi, O.M. (2026). Generational perspectives on the biafra emancipation movement: analyzing attitudes, beliefs, and activism across political generations in Nigeria. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2025.2607228
- Igwe, N.J., Ekere, O.R., & Agbo, D.A. (2024). Use of digital tools in adult information literacy programmes in Nigeria: A case study of Nsukka urban. IKENGA International Journal of Institute of African Studies. https://doi.org/10.53836/ijia/2024/25/4/007
- Joseph, T., & Bouko, C. (2025). Mapping feminist identities on Instagram: identity markers, profile types, and social logics of digital activism. Feminist Media Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2025.2565717
- McLean, N. (2025). [INTAG-4396]KEEPING EACH OTHER SAFE: TRANSGENDER PEOPLE’S ONLINE SOLIDARITY STRATEGIES. Feminist Digital Citizenship in Africa. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350500495.ch-4
- Nwachukwu, N. (2025). Digital surveillance in Nigeria. Digital Surveillance in Africa. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350422117.ch-7
- Núñez Puente, S. (2025). From #YoSíTeCreo to #SeAcabó: An exploration of the traces of the mobilization of rage in feminist digital activism in Spain. Feminist Theory. https://doi.org/10.1177/14647001251371967
- Okolie, A., Onuoha, F., & Nwangwu, C. (2024). Critical issues and challenges to sustainable development in Africa. IKENGA International Journal of Institute of African Studies. https://doi.org/10.53836/ijia/2024/25/2/000
- Onah, C.K. (2024). #BringBackOurGirls: Transnational Activism and the Remediation of the 2014 Chibok Girls’ Kidnapping in Nigeria. African Studies Review. https://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2024.13
- Pain, P. (2024). License to rape: examining digital activism around marital rape in India. Feminist Media Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2024.2447808
- Phiri, M. (2024). Digital Surveillance, Online and Offline Harassment, and Feminist Media Politics. Patterns of Harassment in African Journalism. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032697604-7
- Rezai, Y. (2024). Performing Iran online: digital poetics and feminist activism in the woman life freedom movement. Journal of Gender Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2024.2386058
- Richterich, A. (2024). Data solidarity in feminist technology activism and innovation. International Journal of Cultural Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779241299438
- Uwalaka, T., Amadi, F., & Enyindah, S.C. (2024). Hostility towards the Press in Nigeria: Examining Online Responses to the Burning of TVC Headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. Journal of Asian and African Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096241303947
- Vancsó, A., & Kovács-Magosi, O. (2024). The mutually reinforcing power of online and offline activism: The case of the Hungarian Fridays for Future movement. Global Studies of Childhood. https://doi.org/10.1177/20436106241286523
- Wang, Y., & Tavmen, G. (2024). New outlets of digital feminist activism in China: the #SeeFemaleWorkers campaign. Feminist Media Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2024.2334782
- Yang, Z., & Hu, Z. (2025). Negotiating feminist solidarity amid digital nationalism: analyzing Chinese debate to the 2024 South Korean deepfake sex crime. Asian Journal of Women's Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2025.2511728