CYBER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

“We hear about wake-up calls, but people keep hitting the
snooze button.”
Ira Winkler
President of the Information Systems Security Association
studies show that after viewing pornography men are
more likely to: report decreased empathy for rape victims;
have increasingly aggressive behavioral tendencies;
report believing that a woman who dresses provocatively
deserves to be raped; report anger at women who flirt but
then refuse to have sex; report decreased sexual interest
in their girlfriends or wives; report increased interest in
coercing partners into unwanted sex acts. Boys aged 12-
17 are the largest consumer group of Internet porn. 23 This
suggests that the first images and information surrounding
sex that a young boy is exposed to would include violence
towards a woman.
The key is to focus on prevention, particularly among
young children, and on developing an array of strategies
to address VAWG. These could include education
programs targeting primary-age children, after-school
and community-based programs for youth, employment
training programs, and support and effective and
sustainable funding for positive and expressive outlets
such as sports, art and music. From an industry point of
view, there is a preventative as well as a proactive set of
measures that can be taken to complement these actions.
The social and structural inequalities contributing to
VAWG are well established and recognized within
normative frameworks such as CEDAW and the recent
Istanbul Convention. UN Women provides the following
recommendations 24 :
• Investing in gender equality and women’s
empowerment
• Introducing or reforming legislation
Acknowledging VAW is a relatively recent development. Highlights of key international
and regional commitments and campaigns over the past century include:
Early
20th century
1979 1993 1994
Trafficking and sexual exploitation
The Convention on the Elimination
The landmark Declaration on the
Inter-American Convention on
identified as a concern within
of all Forms of Discrimination
Elimination of Violence against
the Prevention, Punishment and
international conventions.
Against Women or CEDAW was
Women (1993) was adopted,
Eradication of Violence against
adopted (entered into force in
providing a framework for analysis
Women (Convention of Belém
1981) and its Optional Protocol
and action at the national and
do Pará) was adopted. It is the
(2000).
international levels.
first and only legally binding
instrument at the regional level on
violence against women.
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