85% of women have witnessed online violence against women. Not only is this affecting women’s safety online, and sometimes offline, it is also silencing half the global population and undermining democracy. Global network Women’s Rights Online is helping shape policy, practice and platforms with evidence-based interventions and products.
Globally, 85% of women have witnessed online violence against women, and 38% have been personally targeted.
This has serious consequences for the women targeted – their mental health is severely affected, their self-esteem is eroded, they no longer feel safe online, and sometimes online threats turn into physical ones. In addition, online gender-based violence is undermining wider democracy by silencing half of the global population.
Since September 2024, Digital Action has been convening Women’s Rights Online which is helping counter this harmful trend.
What is Women’s Rights Online?
In existence for over a decade, Women’s Rights Online is a global network of gender justice and digital rights organizations across 14 developing countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, working to bridge the gender gap in technology, data, and policymaking.
How are they making the internet more accessible and safer for women online?
Using a blend of fresh research, advocacy, and storytelling, their work focuses on reforming policy, regulation and practices/interventions so that everyone, everywhere can afford to connect and have the skills and opportunities to participate online privately and freely.
For example, the network has created playbooks on Gender and ICT, and Tech Policy Design Labs, to help governments, civil society and tech companies develop human-centred policies, processes and platforms. They’ve also agreed definitions by the Global Majority around online gender-based violence (OGBV) to enable global cooperation. And their research has explored what motivates perpetrators of OGBV, and what data and research is missing to advance women’s rights online.
Who is involved?
The network has 16 organisations from around the world including:
- IT for Change – India
- Sulá Batsú Cooperativa – Costa Rica
- Fundación Karisma – Colombia
- HiperDerecho – Peru
- HoPe Moçambique- Moçambique
- Internet Lab – Brazil
- KICTANet- Kenya
- Media Foundation for West Africa – Ghana
- Pen to Paper- Eastern Europe
- Pollicy- Uganda
- TechSocietal – Nigeria
- Tedic- Paraguay
- Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) – Uganda