Gen Z and GBV as a generation caught between digital empowerment and digital exposure

GENDER-BASED violence (GBV) remains one of the most persistent and devastating crises of our time. In South Africa, the femicide rate is about five times higher than the global average, and the country has consistently recorded some of the highest GBV statistics in the world. This reality is not new. What is new is how young people encounter, interpret and respond to violence in a world where the boundaries between reality and digital space are almost invisible.

Gen Z is the first generation to grow up with GBV not only happening around them but also appearing on their screens in real time. They are not introduced to the reality of violence gradually or through controlled channels. They encounter it through viral social media clips, commentary threads filled with hostility, leaked screenshots of abusive conversations, emergency alerts circulated on WhatsApp, and community warnings shared across neighbourhood groups.

The World Health Organization reports that one in three women globally has experienced physical or sexual violence. This statistic is significant for Gen Z because they encounter it not as an abstract global figure but through personalised stories that circulate rapidly across the platforms they use daily. This constant exposure shapes how they understand safety, danger and relationships. Social media algorithms push content that attracts engagement, and GBV-related stories often create intense emotional reactions. The result is a generation that receives a steady stream of visual and auditory evidence of harm.

Their understanding of violence is immediate, graphic and personal. They do not wait for the evening news because their news arrives minute by minute through the devices they hold in their hands. The saturation of digital violence interacts with another formative part of Gen Zs life.

Gaming

Research from the Pew Research Centre (2022) shows that 97% of teen boys and 70% of teen girls in the United States play video games. South African youth follow similar trends. Extensive studies show that repeated exposure to violent gaming environments can reduce empathetic responses and increase acceptance of aggression as a normal reaction to conflict. While gaming does not make people violent in a direct causal sense, it shapes emotional regulation and social interpretation.

When young people learn about conflict through digital avatars, reward systems that celebrate domination, and scenarios where harm leads to advancement, this shapes their mental map of how power works. For Gen Z, the combination of online violence and immersive gaming creates a psychological environment where aggression is not only observed but also simulated. They witness intimate partner violence through viral videos and then encounter virtual violence through gameplay. These two worlds coexist in their consciousness. They move from watching a harmful real-world incident on TikTok to participating in a violent mission on a gaming platform within the same hour. Their brains treat both events as stimuli, which changes how they interpret danger, gender roles, and emotional responses.

There is another layer. Gen Z does not only witness. They participate. They call out abusive behaviour online. They organise rapid digital campaigns for survivors. They challenge misogyny in comment sections. They have access to safety apps long before they have access to formal protective systems, and they often trust technology more than institutions.

Research from UN Women indicates that Gen Z in many countries views online activism as a legitimate form of social justice work. They believe visibility equals accountability. They believe exposure prevents silence. They believe naming protects. This carries value, but it also carries risk. The online space can become a substitute for real structural solutions. Young people may feel as if posting about violence is the same as addressing violence. They may also mistake virality for verification. False accusations, online vigilantism and public drag culture sit alongside legitimate calls for justice. The terrain becomes messy, and Gen Z navigates it without a guide.

Their bravery is evident, but so is the emotional toll. The implications for Gen Alpha are significant. Gen Alpha will not only witness GBV through platforms created by older users. They will inherit an online world that is already saturated with the visual culture of violence. They will enter adolescence with even greater immersion in digital gaming, as current trends show that gaming platforms are rapidly expanding. Many Gen Alpha children already spend more time in virtual environments than in physical play. They will engage with AI-driven avatars, immersive simulations, and interactive storylines where gender roles and power dynamics are coded into the game's architecture.

They will also inherit Gen Z’s coping mechanisms.

Hypervigilance

Screenshot habits. Panic buttons. Safety apps. Relationship caution is shaped by exposure to online harm narratives long before they date or form romantic attachments. They will assume that danger is always close because this is the worldview Gen Z absorbed through their screens. In many ways, Gen Alpha will be raised by both their parents and the digital ecosystems that surround them. Suppose their understanding of gender, safety and relationships is shaped primarily by online spaces.

In that case, their relationship to violence will be influenced by forces that families and schools do not fully control. The question is what society intends to do about it. For years, the narrative around GBV has focused on prevention strategies in the physical world. These remain vital. But the world that shapes Gen Z and Gen Alpha is not only physical. It is digital.

Schools, universities, policymakers and parents must understand the emotional and cognitive impact of growing up in a world where violence is not hidden and not contextualised. It arrives raw. It arrives unmediated. It arrives faster than protective structures can respond. Education systems need to teach digital emotional literacy. Children must learn to process violent content, distinguish between entertainment and harm, and interpret digital relationships.

Boys must receive intentional education on empathy, respect and accountability because gaming culture often reinforces hyper-masculinity and entitlement. Girls must learn that vigilance does not mean living in fear and that every safety tool is a supplement, not a solution. Communities must create conversations that help young people translate what they see online into healthy real-world behaviour.

There is also an opportunity here. Gen Z’s digital confidence and refusal to remain silent are driving a new kind of activism. They communicate faster than any generation before them. They hold institutions accountable in real time. They have no patience for silence or excuses. Their obsession with visibility can become a tool for public awareness, policy reform and community engagement. If channelled responsibly, their digital identity can become a catalyst for change.

Gen Alpha will follow their lead, but with sharper digital literacy. If adults invest in guidance now, the next generation may develop a healthier, more empowered understanding of relationships, gender roles, and personal boundaries. They may build a society where violence is not normalised, whether in the physical or digital world. The digital age has transformed GBV from a private issue to a public spectacle. Gen Z stands at the centre of that transformation. Gen Alpha waits on the horizon. What we teach them now will determine whether they inherit a world shaped by fear or one shaped by awareness, empathy, and accountability.

Professor Aradhana Ramnund-Mansingh is the manager, School of Business, Mancosa; empowerment coach for women and former HR executive.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

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