Tanya Khera of Samanta Foundation in Uttarakhand state of India shared the data from National Crime Records Bureau: "50,035 cases were registered in 2020 for cybercrime. In 2022, the number of such cases went up to over 66000 (30% increase). Among the motives behind such cases of cybercrime, the biggest one was sexual exploitation."
Joshua Dilawar who leads Y-PEER Pakistan and is a peer youth leader for gender equality, stressed upon the need for male engagement in helping combat online violence. He shared about a transgender woman who is contesting national assembly elections and has faced a barrage of online harassment, bullying, hatred, and doxing.
Indigenous and gender diverse peoples more vulnerable
Matcha Phorn-In, who is a feminist leader and a force for change on gender equality, indigenous rights and human rights, and leads Sangsan Anakot Yawachon in Thailand, said that "during the pandemic, students were forced to use online tools for education without necessary safeguards to protect them against online violence and abuse. For indigenous peoples the challenge has gone up manifold as they are still fiercely struggling to get justice in terms of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. They have many levels of vulnerability that also puts them at heightened risk of online violence and abuse."
Matcha is right: All forms of gender-based violence (including online and technology-facilitated ones), are deeply rooted in discriminatory social norms and gender inequality. They intersect with racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and other discriminatory systems prevalent in our patriarchal societies and all of them have harmful consequences.
The way forward
Technology- based and technology-facilitated online gender-based violence is certainly preventable. But prevention efforts must be suitably tailored and directed at all levels to end online violence.
Also, youth involvement is important to tackling online gender-based violence, as consumers aged 13-39 years form the largest group (65%) of all social media users worldwide (with those in the 20-29 years making up nearly one-third of these).
Keeping this in mind, UN Women Asia Pacific, and the '30 for 2030' Network facilitated by it, has launched a "Youth Guide To End Online Gender-Based Violence" toolkit. This toolkit provides the young people with the tools and expertise to become aware of, and understand the various forms of online gender-based violence, to educate and involve peers and others in the community to work to prevent such violence.
We have to invest in feminist technologies, involving more women, girls and gender diverse peoples, in design and development of digital solution and close the gender digital gap ensuring equitable and safe access to virtual spaces for everyone. A coordinated multi-stakeholder action is necessary to bring about systemic changes.
Shobha Shukla - CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla is the award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media) and Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
- Shared under Creative Commons (CC)
Joshua Dilawar who leads Y-PEER Pakistan and is a peer youth leader for gender equality, stressed upon the need for male engagement in helping combat online violence. He shared about a transgender woman who is contesting national assembly elections and has faced a barrage of online harassment, bullying, hatred, and doxing.
Indigenous and gender diverse peoples more vulnerable
Matcha Phorn-In, who is a feminist leader and a force for change on gender equality, indigenous rights and human rights, and leads Sangsan Anakot Yawachon in Thailand, said that "during the pandemic, students were forced to use online tools for education without necessary safeguards to protect them against online violence and abuse. For indigenous peoples the challenge has gone up manifold as they are still fiercely struggling to get justice in terms of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. They have many levels of vulnerability that also puts them at heightened risk of online violence and abuse."
Matcha is right: All forms of gender-based violence (including online and technology-facilitated ones), are deeply rooted in discriminatory social norms and gender inequality. They intersect with racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and other discriminatory systems prevalent in our patriarchal societies and all of them have harmful consequences.
Technology- based and technology-facilitated online gender-based violence is certainly preventable. But prevention efforts must be suitably tailored and directed at all levels to end online violence.
Also, youth involvement is important to tackling online gender-based violence, as consumers aged 13-39 years form the largest group (65%) of all social media users worldwide (with those in the 20-29 years making up nearly one-third of these).
Keeping this in mind, UN Women Asia Pacific, and the '30 for 2030' Network facilitated by it, has launched a "Youth Guide To End Online Gender-Based Violence" toolkit. This toolkit provides the young people with the tools and expertise to become aware of, and understand the various forms of online gender-based violence, to educate and involve peers and others in the community to work to prevent such violence.
We have to invest in feminist technologies, involving more women, girls and gender diverse peoples, in design and development of digital solution and close the gender digital gap ensuring equitable and safe access to virtual spaces for everyone. A coordinated multi-stakeholder action is necessary to bring about systemic changes.
Shobha Shukla - CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla is the award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media) and Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
- Shared under Creative Commons (CC)
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