erika
Erika Smith works for the APC Women's Rights Programme in the coordination team of the global Take Back the Tech! campaign every November 25-December 10. She is based in Mexico.
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Feminist talk
Freedom of expression, the role of intermediaries, and misogynist hate speech: Security in exchange for rights?
The Latin American Regional Forum on Internet Governance was held in August, and brought together internet experts from government, business, and civil society. As a feminist from Mexico who documents cases of technology-related violence against women, the debates on freedom of expression were of particular interest. I took the opportunity to interview representatives of free speech and digital...
Feminist talk
Libertad de expresión, rol de intermediarios y discurso de odio misógino: ¿seguridad a cambio de derechos?
En el Foro regional para América Latina sobre gobernanza en internet ocurrido en agosto, se reunieron expertos/as en internet de gobiernos, empresas y sociedad civil. Para quien escribe, una feminista de México documentando casos de violencia relacionada con la tecnología y ejercida contra las mujeres, fueron de especial interés los debates sobre libertad de expresión. Aproveché la experiencia...
Editorial
Derecho a la realidad
Hubo importantes logros en la reciente 57ª sesión de la Comisión sobre la Condición de la Mujer que evalúa el progreso de los gobiernos del mundo en el tratamiento de la violencia hacia las mujeres y niñas. Uno de esos logros fue el reconocimiento de los gobiernos del rol creciente de las tecnologías de información y comunicación en la continuidad de la violencia hacia las mujeres.
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Editorial
Right into reality
Important achievements were attained at the recent Commission on the Status of Women 57th session reviewing government progress worldwide in addressing violence against women and girls. One such attainment was governments' recognition of the growing role of information and communication technologies in the continuum of violence against women.
Perhaps you are a bit skeptical about...
Perhaps you are a bit skeptical about...
Feminist talk
Blaming the victim
It was a bit like ping-pong - reporters, activists, and representatives from civil society organisations in a hot debate on privacy in Facebook. Some pointed out how Facebook (FB) from its inception is designed to encourage giving up your innermost secrets – or at least your relationship status. That privacy configurations change frequently on FB and it's hard to keep up or understand the...
Feminist talk
Privacidad y seguridad a prueba
Muchas pasaron en pareja a tomar los “test” - encuestas sobre seguridad digital y violencia de género relacionada con la tecnología. Jóvenes, parejas adultas, madres con sus hijos e hijas. Nunca imaginábamos el interés que generaría la posibilidad de poner conocimiento y experiencia a prueba, y el estudio sociológico inesperado que surgiría.
In depth
Digital World 2012: stories to end violence against women
The "Digital World 2012 - Knowledge to Prosperity conference":http://www.digitalworld.org.bd in Dhaka, Bangladesh 6-8 December was an amazing mashup of private sector, government, education, and civil society united in their interest in ICT for development. As coordinator of APC's "End violence: Women's rights and safety online project":...
Feminist talk
Bargain basement shopping in the information society
When I saw this quote on Mozilla's new Collusion website: "If you're not paying for something, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold - Andrew Lewis." I felt it summed up the economics tool box session on Commodification of Knowledge that APC led at the 2012 AWID Forum quite nicely. The session, organised by APC, brought together speakers to spark debate and reflection, but the...
Feminist talk
Taking street harassment off the streets and off the map!
I walked in late to the jam-packed session “Bringing Gender to the Streets: Young Women Amidst the Arab Uprisings” at AWID Forum 2012. This was not a session about technology or the internet, but it was a common strand running through each presenters' activism and evidence-building for women's rights, even and perhaps especially in the midst of revolution.
Feminist talk
Privacy and voice
I'm sure we've all seen amazing testimony videos of incredibly sensitive subjects: of women who choose to have abortion and share why despite risking imprisonment in their country for this act of taking control of their bodies; lesbians who come out fighting against "correctional rape"; rural women living in isolated regions sharing stories of cultural violence. I cringe and wonder - do they know...
