METHODOLOGY THIS paper documents the challenges faced by women journalists in Southern Africa as they dispatch their professional duties. This study is informed by an online survey undertaken by the MISA regional office to gather data on the use of online platforms, types of attacks and impact of those attacks on women journalists in Southern Africa. This survey will assist in: 1. Guiding media stakeholders in developing a clear definition for the categorisation of online violence. This will be used to advocate for the inclusion of the monitoring of online violence against journalists and in particular women journalists; cyberviolence and the extent of the harm its causes. 2. The development of tools and strategies to assist female journalists, media institutions and policy makers in developing coping mechanisms to deal with the impact of online attacks; It managed to identify other nuances which include astroturfing, concern trolling, outrage/shame, cyberstalking and deep fake which are all explained in the study. 3. Strategies to reduce digital attacks on female journalists on a sustained and long term basis. It goes further highlight examples and testimonies of online abuse from the region which provided empirical data on the impact of cyber violence on women journalists. The study made an attempt to explore the definition of 7 Three levels of harm were identified; severe, pervasive and online.