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The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender and thus provides for equality (Articles 12-24).

The Sexual Offences Provision Act 1998 (SOSPA) was passed to safeguard the dignity of women and discourages GBV by providing extreme punishment for offences.

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The Constitution of Kenya provides for the security of the person and protection against all forms of violence. Articles 25(a), 29(d) and (f) and 50 prohibit any form of torture or treatment that is cruel, inhuman and degrading from either public or private entities.

Article 27 provides for equal protection of women and men before the law and in all spheres of life. It prohibits any discrimination and obligates the State to take measures to address any disadvantage suffered by any individual or group because of past discrimination.

Article 28 provides for every person having inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected. Article 30 (1) states that a person shall not be held in slavery or servitude. Article 30 (2) provides that a person shall not be required to perform forced labour.

Penal Code: The Penal Code prohibits all acts of violence in its provisions. It however does not sufficiently address SGBV which is prevalent within Kenyan society. SGBV, for instance, is only inferred by virtue of interpreting the vice as an assault as provided for under section 250 and 251. There is no specific offence such as wife battery/ husband battery. The inadequacies for addressing SGBV present challenges to the fight against the vices.

Children’s Act: The Children’s Act makes provisions that safeguard the rights and welfare of children. The Act stipulates that all activities done on behalf of children should be in the best interest of the child. Violence meted against children therefore does not constitute best interest of the child. Section 13 guarantees children (both girls and boys) the right to protection from physical and psychological abuse, neglect and any other form of exploitation including sale, trafficking or abduction. Under section 14 children are protected from female circumcision, early marriage or other cultural rites, customs, or traditional practices which are harmful to the child’s development. The Act also explicitly prohibits sexual exploitation of children as well as actions that expose children to torture or cruel or inhuman treatment such as circumcision or child marriages.

Sexual Offences Act 2006: The Act was enacted to curb the escalating cases of sexual violence cases experienced in the country on or about 2006. Its primary purpose is to provide for the protection of persons from harm from unlawful sexual acts and act as a deterrent by providing for minimum sentences for sexual offences. The Act criminalizes a wide range of behaviours including rape, sexual assault, defilement, compelled or induced indecent acts with children, imbeciles or adults, gang rape, child pornography, child trafficking, child sex tourism, child prostitution, exploitation of prostitution, incest by male and female persons, sexual harassment, deliberate transmission of HIV or other life threatening sexually transmitted disease, stupefying with sexual intent, forced sexual acts for cultural or religious reasons among others. It is the first law in Kenya to recognize sexual harassment as a crime.

Section 43 (5) of the Act exempts lawfully married persons in the commission of intentional and unlawful acts under the act.

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Protection against Domestic Violence Act (2015): This Act is the only legislation in Kenya that solely addresses violence within the family set-up and seeks to protect persons in a domestic relationship including relatives and children. It creates prosecutable offenses including economic violence, emotional abuse, stalking, interference from in laws as well as virginity testing and sexual violence in marriage. Remarkably, a person can report abuse on behalf of a victim. The Act also creates protection measures against victims such protection orders, court ordered counseling services and compensation to the victims.

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Sexual Offences Act, 2006

• Include cyber-stalking, online harassment, online distribution of offensive material, malicious distribution, and soliciting

• Provide mechanisms for protection e.g. restraining orders

• Create a provision with a rider for an aggravated level where ICTs are used to commit sexual offences (including sexual assault, rape, defilement, indecent act with child or adult; child sex tourism; child prostitution; and child pornography

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Sections 62-67 of the Cybersecurity Act 2020, (Act 1038), criminalize child online abuses including the production, viewing, and distribution of child sexual abuse materials, online grooming of children, cyberstalking of a child, and sextortion.

Sections 67 and 68 of the Cyber Security Acts, 2020 (Act 1038) explicitly prohibit the sharing and threat of disclosing private, sexual pictures and videos of another person without consent

The Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) and other organizations have been tasked to investigate such cyber sexual violence.

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Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Sexual Offences Act. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs; 2012. https://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt/laws2/Alphabetical_List/lawspdfs/11.28.pdf.

Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act. Port of Spain: Government Printer; 2000.

Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Domestic Violence Act. Port of Spain: Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs; 2006. http://rgd.legalaffairs. gov.tt/laws2/alphabetical_list/lawspdfs/45.56.pdf.

Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Domestic Violence Act (Amendment) Act. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago; 2020. https://www.ttparliament.org/publication/the-domestic-violenceamendment-act-2020/

Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Offences Against the Person Act. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs; 2005. https://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt/laws2/Alphabetical_List/lawspdfs/11.08. pdf.

Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Equal Opportunity Act. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs; 2001. https://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt/laws2/alphabetical_list/lawspdfs/22.03.pdf

Organization of American States. Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women: "Convention of Belem Do Para". Washington DC: Organization of American States; 1994. https://www.oas.org/ juridico/english/treaties/a-61.html.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. New York: United Nations; 1979. https:// www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cedaw.aspx.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Geneva: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ; 1966.

Office of the Prime Minister. National Policy on Gender and Development: a Green Paper. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Office of the Prime Minister; 2018.

Office of the Prime Minister. Green Paper: National HIV and AIDS Policy 2020-2030. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Office of the Prime Minister; 2020. National HIV and AIDS Policy, 2020-2030 (

The National Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy (2020)

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Cyber crimes mostly relate to terrorist activities (accessing or attacking critical infrastructure; glorification of terrorism; making, generating, adapting, exporting, supplying devices for use in an offence; selling, possessing, transmitting, using another person's identity without authorisation). The 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act addresses "offences against modesty" and "cyber stalking".

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There is no clear legal definition of cyberbullying. Defamation, insult, harm to reputation constitute cyberbullying. Sec 14 is "offense of using a computer system for crimes", Sec 16 relates to "retouching of computer data leading to damage, insult, defamation". Punishments are usually financial; imprisonment if any is between a year and three years.

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Cyberbullying is not a separate offence under Sri Lanka's Penal Code. Sec.345 = sexual harassment, Sec.372 =extortion, Sec. 483 = criminal intimidation. Some provisions apply for some instances of TFGBV. In 2018, a Standard Operating Procedure for Police was implemented to address fear/stigma of reporting.

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Electronic Communication Abuse Offences Act 2020:- legislation protecting Tongan citizens from any electronic communication abuses such as but not limited to bullying, menacing, harrassing, harmful and indecent through materials heard, seen, or otherwise perceived as harmful to another person. Abuse can be by the creator of the electronic communication or by whom who shares, re-posts or distributes the abusive content.

Tonga National Cybersecurity Framework: outlines prioritized actions that government, departments, ministries, agencies, private sector companies, and citizens must apply to reduce vulnerability to cyber threats.

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Online Safety Act (2018): Protects against harmful online behaviour such as cyber stalking, cyber bullying, revenge porn and internet trolling.

Fiji National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against All Women and Girls (2023-2028). Essential Action 2 – Social Services

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Ley Olimpia: A set of reforms to the General Law on Women's Access to a Life Free of Violence and the Federal Penal Code, which seek to recognize digital violence and punish crimes that violate people's sexual intimacy through digital means.

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Indian Penal Code: Some protection against some forms of violence including email spoofing (Section 463 IPC), cyber-hacking (Section 66), sending obscene messages (Section 66A IPC), and pornography (Section 292 IPC).