CYBER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

“For women, the basic problems are the problems that are
much larger than technology. They are the gender equality,
the patriarchy, the violence against women who dare to use
the technologies because men are suspicious. The forces
that keep women and girls from going to school. These
forces keep them from using the technology—even if it is in
the house.”
Nancy Hafkin, Senior Associate,
Women in Global Science and Technology
The 5 P’s of
Due Diligence
1.
Prevent violence against women
2.
Protect women from violence
3.
Prosecute and investigate incidences of violence against women
4.
Punish perpetrators of violence against women
forms of exploitation. Underlying this is the perpetuation of
negative and harmful stereotypes of girls and women as
well as negative notions of masculinity.
The potential to broadcast cyber-violence and hate crimes
against women is particularly noticeable; it is exponential,
unprecedented and at times corrosive and vitriolic, and it
represents the very worst of mob mentality and perceived
‘safety in numbers’ by the perpetrators. Online harassment
has become, in part, a team sport, with posters vying
to outdo each other. Compared to men, women who are
active on social media and in the blogosphere receive
more threats or comments that directly attack their gender,
their safety, and their very right to express opinion in
male-dominated spaces. 27
1.3. Objectives and limitations of this
report
Gender-based violence has multi-dimensional social
expressions and implications and is seemingly chronically
endemic to human civilisation. Others have weighed in
on this issue, to give both space and voice to them all
would go beyond the objective and scope of this paper.
While the cyber manifestations of VAWG is not an issue
of importance ‘only’ to girls and women – this paper
focuses on girls and women as a particular segment
of society that has been especially targeted because of
its societal status. Society as a whole has a poor track
record of addressing harms primarily suffered by females.
The injustice of rape, for example, is compounded by the
injustice of official neglect and indifference. 28
5.
Provide redress to victims/survivors of violence against women
Due Diligence Project
The main objectives of this paper are to:
• situate the growing threat of cyber VAWG within
the broader context and challenge of cyber-crime,
Internet growth and governance, and human
rights;
10