Creating safe digital spaces for women

Women’s Day has been celebrated for over 100 years. Across the globe, women have advanced in various sectors – education, health, civil rights, employability and in the political realm. Women’s voices have become louder and their influence has increased.

This year, the United Nations has chosen the theme: ‘For ALL women and girls: Rights, equality, empowerment’. These three themes are interlaced and they are often both prerequisites and ideals in a woman’s life. The journey towards more rights, equality and empowerment is an incessant one. This journey is often riddled with hurdles.

One such hurdle that is sometimes overlooked is cyberviolence against women.

Cyberviolence against wo­men and girls has become a rising global issue with poten­tially serious economic and societal repercussions due to the internet’s expanding reach, the quick dissemination of mobile information and the extensive use of social media.

While the spread of technology is commendable and the internet is a source of knowledge and good entertainment, unfortunately, at times, technology and the internet are wrongly used to disseminate hatred, to bully others, to create fake news and to target and harm innocent people.

As in most realms of life, women are often more targeted than men when it comes to cyberviolence. One in three women will have been the victim of violence at some point in their lives, according to research by the WHO. Even though internet connectivity is a relatively recent and expanding phenomenon, one in 10 women are thought to have already been the victim of cyberviolence since the age of 15.

Since having access to the internet is becoming essential for economic success and is considered a fundamental human right, it is imperative that everyone, including women, feels safe and empowered in the digital arena. Therefore, guardians and educators are crucial in addressing gender equality, cyber violence and online communication with children.

At the same time, we, as legislators, must ensure that our laws are up to date with the modern era so that we prevent cyberviolence and, when this cannot be pre-empted, we must ensure that the perpetrators of cyberviolence are apprehended and brought to justice.

Moreover, a stronger educational campaign on greater awareness of how to reduce the chances of falling prey to cyberviolence is needed.

Since women are at greater danger of harm and are therefore deprived of the good effects that internet technology can have on all aspects of their life, we must address harassment in both the real and digital spheres, as our lives grow more and more entwined with the virtual world.

One in 10 women are thought to have already been the victim of cyberviolence since the age of 15- Graziella Attard Previ

Gender-based violence is not new but its migration to the digital world has magnified its scale and impact. As early as the advent of e-mail and chat rooms, women became targets of cyberstalking and harassment. With the rise of social media, these threats expanded, providing perpetrators with tools to harass, exploit and demean on a global scale.

In the past few years, image-based abuse, or what is known as ‘revenge porn’, began to draw some attention. The non-consensual sharing of intimate images, often as an act of retaliation or control, became a devastating weapon against women.

This type of abuse marked a change in the dynamics of violence because victims’ pain may go on forever due to the internet’s durability and virality.

In this context, I must mention the phenomenon of victim blaming. When incidents of revenge porn are reported in the media, we often note that the victims are blamed for their misfortune. Instead of empathising, understanding and supporting the victim, who most often is a woman, society turns against the victim and blames her.

A significant number of victims of cyberviolence suffer from anxiety, sadness and post-traumatic stress disorder. Because online content is permanent, victims may feel stuck and unable to leave or move past the abuse.

Sextortion can have tragic economic repercussions by forcing victims to fulfil demands. The effects are especially harmful for young people since being exposed to this kind of violence interferes with their social and academic growth and has long-term effects on their future.

All this underlines the need for immediate action.

The motto for this year’s International Women’s Day ‒ ‘Accelerate Action’ ‒ evokes a stronger commitment and determination to facilitate faster changes, changes that are needed right now, for today’s girls and women. According to the World Economic Forum, at the present rate of progress, globally, women will have to wait till 2158 to achieve true equality.

This projection paints a dismal picture – an unacceptable scenario. So, yes, we need to accelerate our actions, we need to be bolder. We need to act more promptly, we need to speed up the momentum to facilitate a better today and an optimal tomorrow for all girls and women.

Graziella Attard Previ is the Nationalist Party’s spokesperson on equality, civil liberties and children’s rights.