Female Voices against ‘Femicide’ in South Africa and Nigeria: Facebook and Twitter (now X) as Hubs for Social Justice

As typically illustrated by the demise of once-powerful men like Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein, social media have proven to be successful fora for ringing alarm bells, springing political actors as well as law enforcement agencies into action, and enabling the apprehension and conviction of alleged perpetrators of women’s abuse. Social media are ideal platforms for fostering social change due to their efficacy in the instantaneous reach of mass audiences, especially in the facilitation of bottom-up agency. This disrupts traditional news cycles and empowers those advocating for social action on behalf of the downtrodden. What has continued to command the attention of researchers is the question of representation, participation, and the mobilisation of marginal voices that are otherwise overshadowed by such factors as the political economy of communication, gate-keeping processes and agenda-setting complexities of traditional media. Through a qualitative content analysis, mined datasets from social networking platforms of Facebook and Twitter about discussions on #UyineneMrwetyana in South Africa and #JusticeForUwa in Nigeria, are explored to ascertain running themes related to justice and activism. In this way, the chapter analyses how both platforms can facilitate the political discourses of ordinary women and how they are able to mobilise social actors to take action against “femicide” and Gender-Based Violence.