UN Press Release: Urgent action needed to combat online violence against women and girls, says new UN report

Via UN Women -Thanks foScreen Shot 2015-09-25 at 11.02.46 AMr sharing, Shanly!

It looks like our project has a much heftier, international sister working towards the same goals. I learned that there is a handy new acronym for cyberviolence against women and girls (cyber vawg). Ok, it is possible that VAWG existed already and I was simply unaware of it...

Moving on now...

The selection of key findings were predictable yet, as always, chilling:

  • An estimated 73 per cent of women have already been exposed to, or have experienced, some form of online violence.
  • Women in the age range of 18 to 24 are uniquely likely to experience stalking and sexual harassment in addition to physical threats.
  • Nine million women in the European Union’s 28 countries alone have experienced online violence as young as 15 years old.
  • One in five female Internet users live in countries where harassment and abuse of women online is extremely unlikely to be punished.
  • In many countries women are reluctant to report their victimization for fear of social repercussions.
  • Cyber VAWG puts a premium on emotional bandwidth, personal and workplace time, financial resources and missed wages.

Emotional bandwidth. That is such a great way to phrase it...

Not a whole lot new about the key recommendations, though that does not mean they aren't super important:

  • Sensitization – Preventing cyber VAWG through training, learning, campaigning and community development to promote changes in in social attitudes and behavior.
  • Safeguards – Implementing oversight and maintaining a responsible Internet infrastructure through technical solutions and more informed customer care practices
  • Sanctions – Develop and uphold laws, regulations and governance mechanisms to deter perpetrators from committing these acts.

The last two S's seem the most interesting- as they seek to find solutions in what we have been calling design hacks and manifestos. Looking forward to reading the whole report, which is available on the UN Women site.