CYBER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

outed to the local police force, the closest officer
is dispatched to respond and he takes notes with
pen and paper.” 77
• Encouragingly, there are signs of positive
developments in some countries. Dutch law
enforcement is stepping up its efforts to
combat cybercrime. Every regional police
force in the country will train their detectives
in digital investigative techniques. More ICT
specialists and external experts will be recruited.
Specialized digital detectives will join national and
international investigative teams. A “national digital
investigations action program” was established in
July 2014, with a budget of EUR 1.4 million. Law
enforcement however estimated that it needs EUR
30 million a year to effectively intensify the battle
against cybercrime.
4.3 Safeguards: working with industry
and users to make the Internet
VAWG-safe
Over the years, traditional VAW safety measures have
evolved to include women’s shelters, crisis centres, help
lines and education. In light of the new challenges in the
dynamic ICT environment, the digital world also requires
safety measures, and in order to keep up with a rapidly
changing Internet, this will necessarily require resources,
attention and active participation of industry, civil society
and governments.
Free speech requires constant vigilance – by everyone
who uses the Internet. What is the scope of safeguards
needed to be integrated with Internet use?
When the safety of women is discussed, the focus
is often on how women should be protected. But
protection is not the same thing as security. The
question should be what women need to safely
participate in society.
Kvinna Till Kvinna Foundation
Rima Athar and the APC team in their 2015 report 78
conclude that many Terms of Service (ToS) are more
about legal obligations, and that “certain issues get
explicit attention from corporations in their written policies
and redress mechanisms (such as copyright infringement,
child exploitation, financial fraud and extortion), but others
do not (including violence against women, gender-based
hate and other human rights violations).”
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