by Louise Requin
The Annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective was held at the 22nd meeting of the 48th session of the Human Rights Council. The theme for this session was the gender divide in times of Covid-19.
The discussion´s briefing addressed the digital gender gap faced by women and girls regarding information and communications technology. Panellists, NGOS, NHRIS and country representatives joined in a conversation about gender and tech. The briefing expressed that gender discriminations were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic which caused most meaningful forms of participation to move online.
Unequal access to digital tools is caused by the lack of financial means and accessible infrastructure which disproportionately affect women. Women are less likely to have enough capital to invest in technologies or to access existing infrastructure. Chile on behalf of other Latin American countries argued that the digital inclusion of women was crucial to their equal enjoyment of freedoms of expression and of opinion. Moreover, the unequal access of women to training renders them less digitally literate, a trend that disproportionally affects older, poorer and/or rural women.
The violence affecting women online is arguably a continuum of the violence they face in the physical world, as argued by Greece. Online spaces may be forums for the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes and sexual harassment. UNFPA demanded that technologically facilitated gender-based violence be addressed. UN Women further argued that levels of online violence rose during the pandemic and demanded inclusive policies to be enacted. Greece called on social media platforms to assume their responsibilities and ensure the safety of women and girls on their networks.
NGOs joined the discussion and stressed the importance of digital access for LGBT+ youth to avoid isolation, but also the enhanced exposure they may face to cyber bullying. Plan International argued the lack of access to the internet causes girls to lose out on information about their sexual and reproductive health.
Finally, panellists concluded on an intersectional note. Special Rapporteur on the equal enjoyment of physical and mental health Tlaleng Mofokeng urged the audience to properly address the embedded racism of artificial intelligence for a holistic, inclusive process of change. Tatiana Vasconcelos – disability consultant - argued that people with disabilities should be a specific focus of inclusive policies for the digital age. Head of International Telecommunication Union Jaroslaw Ponder called on all fellow men in tech offices to start fighting for the empowerment of women through technology.
GICJ sees the digital age as an opportunity for women and girls online to access education, communities and information from remote places of the world. This opportunity must not be endangered by the perpetuation of patriarchal practices of exclusion towards women. Moreover, the future holds an ever-expanding digitalisation of work and culture. It is therefore crucial to include women now in to ensure their full participation online as early as possible.
Justice, Human rights, Geneva, geneva4justice, GICJ, Geneva International Centre For Justice
