Navigating technology-facilitated abuse: A participatory action research study with young adults living with HIV and key populations in Kenya

For young adults living with HIV and key populations, digital platforms are essential tools for accessing health information, services, and navigating stigmatized health needs. However, these technologies expose them to digital harms such as technology-facilitated abuse (TFA). Research on TFA has largely focussed on gender-based violence with limited exploration of experiences of criminalised and stigmatised populations. This paper reports findings from Kenya as part of the Digital Health and Rights Project (DHRP), a four-country study conducted in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Vietnam. The study examined how young adults living with HIV and key populations experience TFA. Data were collected in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kitui, and Migori counties through 16 focus group discussions with 109 young adults aged 18-30 years, including people living with HIV, female sex workers, gay men and other men who have sex with men, and transgender participants, alongside eight in‑depth interviews and six key informant interviews with policymakers, health professionals, and civil society leaders. Data were thematically analysed. TFA included cyberbullying, hacking, blackmail, impersonation, malicious reporting of accounts, and non‑consensual sharing of images or private information. Perpetrators included family members, partners, friends, and strangers, often linked to participants' HIV status, sexuality, or online visibility. TFA caused significant emotional, social, and behavioural harms. Participants emphasized the need for digital literacy, stronger data protection, and a responsive criminal justice system. Based on these findings, we propose an expanded intersectional definition of TFA that extends beyond gendered framing to explicitly recognise HIV status, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression as axes of vulnerability. Our findings highlight the urgent need for rights-based digital governance that moves the burden of protection from individuals to systems, including through decriminalisation, to protect digital rights and wellbeing of young adults living with HIV and key populations in Kenya.