Shutdowns have also obstructed services set up to support female victims of violence. A WHRD working on gender-based violence reported: Some victims have to travel to places where Starlink connections are available due to the internet shutdowns. Just to meet with us or talk, they have to find a spot where they can get some voice out. Sometimes, in urgent situations, we can’t even connect to them. (KII-4) One of the WHRDs interviewed suggested that although VPNs could be used to bypass the blocking of social media sites, they complicated their outreach activities and were not necessarily useful for women who lacked digital skills: The situations that depend on VPNs and the blocking of mainstream social media platforms negatively affected the outreach of our activities. Individuals who are not familiar with technology were delayed in contacting us, as they could not easily connect via social media platforms. Mainly, in the support programme, there was a delay. (KII-4) 20