Nigeria: Targeted Online Violence Against Kiki Mordi
Location: Nigeria, Lagos
Date: September 9, 2022
Kiki Mordi is a Nigerian investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker who is being targeted with online violence and misogynistic attacks aimed at discrediting her professional conduct and silencing her. She has been reporting on sexual harassment and abuse of women in Nigeria in recent years.
Due to her investigative work and awards received she has been subjected to a flood of sexist slurs and threats to belittle her chilling reporting. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is concerned by the continued sexist online trolling and slander campaign against Kiki. We extend support to her and demand immediate action against perpetrators.
In 2020 Kiki was called out by a former colleague for allegedly taking credits for the 2019 award-winning BBC Africa Eye documentary “Sex for Grades” while she got a lot of recognition for her courageous reporting. In 2019, BBC Africa Eye conducted this investigation to find out the allegations of sexual harassment of female students in Nigeria and Ghanaian universities. After gathering dozens of testimonies, BBC Africa Eye sent Kiki Mordi as an undercover journalist to capture footage of sexual harassment at the university of Lagos and Ghana. Kiki recorded the video of how the teacher tried to molest her in his office, revealing the devastating sexual harassment behind closed doors of some of the most prestigious universities in West Africa.
She received many awards as Emmy Nom, People Journalism Prize For Africa, 2020 Michael Elliott Award for her reporting which had a tremendous impact on exposing sexual harassment in African universities. The prestigious prizes aimed to advance the work of emerging journalists who strive to strengthen people's voices.
According to her, all these orchestrated and lightning accusations came after she received ICFJ Award for Storytelling, adding that the horror she faced while investigating several states in Nigeria, was not a glamorous story, it involved a lot of risks and hard work.
This is not the first time journalist Kiki has faced orchestrated accusations and online violence while doing her job and getting recognition. She shared her own story of surviving sexual abuse in the documentary and also participated in the ICFJ-UNESCO online violence project which has documented the global crisis of misogynistic attacks on women journalists.
According to her, “after years of experiencing online violence, I was informed that I was a victim of a disinformation campaign” while misogynistic unethical people are instrumentalized to amplify and fuel attacks”.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is concerned about the alarmingly high number of women journalists targeted with online attacks associated with orchestrated digital disinformation campaigns in Nigeria. These impacts include retreat from visibility, serious mental health toll and self-censorship, which deeply harms women journalists. CFWIJ calls on authorities to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for attacking the journalist. We extend complete support to Kiki Mordi and condemn the vile attacks against her.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.