We have anonymised this case study to protect the safety of the organisation we worked with and its staff. For this article, we refer to them as “the organisation”.
At Open Briefing, we provide tailored, collaborative support to help activists and organisations reduce risk and strengthen their safety and resilience in hostile environments. This case study draws on two linked engagements with a community advocacy and rights organisation based in West Africa, working primarily with queer and trans communities. It shows how phased, context-specific digital security support can strengthen organisational practice and extend protection beyond staff to the wider communities that organisations work alongside.
The organisation operates in an environment of sustained pressure. Because of their work and the identities of the communities they support, they face regular harassment from law enforcement and conservative anti-LGBTQIA+ actors. Threats range from online harassment and bullying to physical harassment, doxing, surveillance and tracking, seizure and compromise of devices and online accounts, and phishing. The organisation emphasised that they wanted support to mitigate prominent risks, such as blackmail and exploitation, being outed, entrapment, reputational harm, legal harm, and psychological harm. Like many grassroots organisations, they were carrying this risk while also handling sensitive information and supporting others who were similarly targeted.
This case illustrates the value of accompaniment over time: starting with assessment and foundational changes, then moving towards capacity-sharing that enables organisations to train others and embed safer practices across communities.
Risk is a constant backdrop
For organisations working on LGBTQIA+ rights in West Africa, high-risk is not an occasional disruption but a constant backdrop. Staff and volunteers are exposed to online abuse, surveillance, and arrest. Digital spaces are essential for organising, communication, and support, but they are also sites of vulnerability.
As one Open Briefing consultant reflected, the organisation and the communities it supports are “regularly targeted either as a result of visible activism, organising, or their identities”. This meant that digital security was not just about protecting devices or accounts, but about safeguarding people, relationships, and trust.
Starting with assessment, not assumptions
The organisation initially approached Open Briefing through our rapid response mechanism for help to improve their digital safety practices and better protect sensitive data. Our first engagement focused on understanding their context, risks, and existing ways of working.
We began with an organisational digital security assessment, working closely with staff to map threats, identify vulnerabilities, and understand how information was being created, shared, and stored. This was paired with practical training for staff, covering topics such as account security, secure communications, device security, and social media safety.
Alongside this, we supported the organisation to develop clear, usable policies and procedures to guide everyday practice. These policies covered communications, data and information management, password and device security, and incident response. The aim was not to create a static document, but a shared framework that staff could return to when planning activities or responding to concerns.
The organisation shared: “I want to speak from a very sincere place. Your training delivery is not just a skill, it’s a brand on its own. You teach with a kind of ease, warmth, and humanity that cannot be faked. Not all of us have a technological background, and many of us are naturally hesitant about anything digital, but your approach made everything feel simple and possible.”
As one of our consultant’s involved in this phase noted, the support enabled the organisation to “develop actionable policies governing their everyday work and processes and provide recommendations for secure tools to use for their communications and data”.
From awareness to action
The organisation described the impact of this first phase as significant. One member of the organisation reflected simply, “I think everyone should be given this opportunity”.
They reported increased awareness of digital risk across the organisation, alongside tangible changes to how they worked day-to-day. This included changing tools and systems, formalising processes for handling sensitive information, and running internal training sessions for staff and volunteers.
The organisation also recognised that this was a starting point. While internal practices had improved, concerns remained about how to ensure that volunteers, newer staff, and closely connected community members had a shared understanding of digital risks and how to mitigate them. Without this, the organisation felt that gaps in knowledge could continue to expose people to harm.
Digital security is most effective when it is collective and ongoing
The second engagement focused on embedding and extending the learning from the first phase, including using a train-the-trainer approach. Open Briefing’s digital and information security team worked with the organisation to co-create a locally-relevant digital security training curriculum and materials that could be used and adapted to share capacity among the organisation’s team and community based on need.
Support included a training session and accompanying facilitator guide and customisable slide deck, which included scenario-based exercises reflecting the specific threats the organisation wanted to address. Rather than delivering one-off training, the emphasis was on building internal capacity: supporting staff to feel confident leading conversations about digital safety and adapting the materials for different audiences.
We then trained five staff members to use these resources, so that they could cascade their knowledge and train other staff, volunteers, and community members. The staff members brought incredible insights from their experiences and prior knowledge to the training. This approach recognised that digital and information security is most effective when it is collective and ongoing, rather than expert-led and one-directional.
After this training, the organisation shared the following feedback:
“Because of your engagement, our team now feels confident to lead similar trainings and conversations at the community level. You reminded us that digital safety is a shared responsibility, if one person is harmed, we are all affected. The participants all shared that they now have a clear understanding of the training and feel fully equipped to pass the knowledge across.”
‘The shift from reacting to threats to proactively assessing and mitigating risk is critical’
Across both engagements, the organisation emphasised that the value of the support lay not only in technical knowledge, but in feeling accompanied and supported over time. Working with Open Briefing over a period of around one year allowed space to reflect, test changes, and build confidence gradually.
The organisation recognised that there is still work to be done, but feel more empowered to organise safely online and to support others facing similar risks. This shift, from reacting to threats towards proactively assessing and mitigating risk, is critical for organisations operating in hostile environments.
Importantly, the work also reinforced the idea that digital security is inseparable from care and solidarity. By framing safety as a shared responsibility, the organisation was better placed to support its communities without increasing their exposure to harm.
Trust-based funding is essential for effective protection work
This case highlights why flexible, trust-based funding is essential for effective protection work. Strengthening digital safety takes time, contextual understanding, and sustained engagement. It cannot be achieved through one-off trainings or generic toolkits.
Phased support, moving from assessment and foundational changes to capacity-sharing and community-level training, allows organisations to embed safer practices and adapt them as risks evolve. For funders, investing in this kind of work is both a duty of care and a practical way to strengthen the resilience of civil society actors facing sustained threats.
Access further support and get involved
Open Briefing provides fully-funded assistance to activists and organisations facing threats related to their work. You can request support through our responsive assistance mechanism.
If you’re a foundation or philanthropist who believes in protecting the people who defend human rights, we’d love to hear from you. Contact our director of development, Vicky Nida at [email protected] to discuss how you can join our incredible community of donors or read more about how Open Briefing works with foundations to strengthen civil society in our latest blog.