In depth
Joanne Sandler: “Links between Section J and patriarchy need to be high on the agenda of feminists worldwide”
By Lamia Kosovic
This year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) outcomes set off some alarm bells of concern about the lack of political space for civil society in the CSW process. While the Commission adopted a Political Declaration that reaffirms states’ commitment to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, it failed to confront the real challenges that women and girls around the world face at…
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Time to update the Section J on women’s real needs
By Bianca Baldo
Twenty years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the specific elaboration of Section J on women and the media, the review resolution does not reflect the impact that ICTs have proven to have on women’s lives, as a means to dramatically advance or hinder women’s rights. In this interview by Bianca Baldo for GenderIT.org, APC’s Jennifer Radloff and Sara Baker agree that we…
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Of cultural controls and gender inequality: Talking about technology-related violence against women in Pakistan
By GenderIT.org
Pakistan was one of seven countries covered by APC’s research project “End violence: Women's rights and safety online”. The research in Pakistan was done in association with Bytes for All, a human rights organisation that focuses on ICTs. Here, GenderIT.org speaks to the manager of advocacy and outreach at Bytes for All, Furhan Hussain, to bring us a closer look into the research findings.
In depth
How technology issues impact women’s rights: 10 points on Section J
By APC
APC's advocacy for the re-prioritisation of Section J at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women asks governments to recognise the critical role that the media and ICT play in both advancing and stifling women's rights. At the same time, it is vital that women's rights activists and organisations examine how ICT affects their work and take up Section J demands.
To that…
To that…
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From impunity to justice: Exploring corporate and legal remedies for technology-related violence against women
By APC
A new series of reports by the Association for Progressive Communications presents findings from a multi-country research project on technology-related violence against women (VAW). The research – which reveals a lack of access to justice for survivors – highlights the voices and experiences of women who have faced technology-related VAW and sought justice through state agencies and internet…
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Violence against women online: What next steps intermediaries should take
By Rafia Shaikh
In the response to abuse and threats that women face, are the technology big names like Facebook, Twitter and others taking tangible steps? In this article, GenderIT.org collaborator Rafia Shaikh explores the most outstanding points from a new research report developed by Rima Athar for the APC’s “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online” project on Improving Corporate Policies, which talks…
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Apps by and for women
By Florencia Goldsman
Programming and creating our own applications or apps is about understanding programming codes, taking control and adapting invisible mechanisms. We need to appropriate technical language and create instruments suited to our needs. In this article, Florencia Goldsman shares the cases of two apps that show how technology can be made by and for women.
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Protecting the right to freedom of expression: Strategies of survivors of tech-related violence against women
By Bianca Baldo
Tech-related violence against women hinders freedom of expression (FOE) as it creates an environment of fear, intimidation, violence, social isolation and impunity. This article written for GenderIT.org by Bianca Baldo explores the effects of tech-related VAW on women's rights to FOE, providing insight on human rights law, the different forms of tech-related VAW, the reasons behind it, the…
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Virtual is real: Attempts to legally frame technology-related violence in a decentralized universe
By Lamia Kosovic
In this article written for GenderIT.org, Lamia Kosovic explores some trends in legislation addressing tech-related VAW and stresses that “legislation itself will not solve the problem of VAW in digital spaces,” affirming that laws have to be accompanied by educational campaigns on the gendered nature of harm in digital spaces. “And it is urgent to expand our understanding of what survivors are…
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Mapping as a strategy to disclose online violence against women
By Dafne Sabanes Plou
When the APC Women's Rights Programme decided to use the Ushahidi map to collect information about the online violence that many women around the world were enduring, the aim was to gather evidence and show how ICTs can be used to perpetrate violence against women. In two years, from July 2012 to July 2014, almost 500 cases denouncing the use of ICTs and online spaces to perpetrate violence…
