GenderIT.org@the Commission on the Status of Women 2011, New York

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*GENDER CENTRED: A GenderIT.org thematic bulletin*
APC WNSP - GenderIT.org, 8 March 2011
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I. FEMINIST TALKS
II. FEATURED ARTICLES AND RESOURCES
III. I DON'T FORWARD VIOLENCE! campaign
IV. EDITORS PICKS FROM #CSW CONVERSATIONS ON TWITTER
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From 22 February to 4 March 2011, the GenderIT.org team took part in the 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. The CSW is a global policy-making body of the United Nations dedicated to gender equality and the advancement of women. This year's session looks at science and technology from the perspective of women's access to education and employment. Some communication advocates felt disappointed that theme of science and technology was so narrowly defined, and argued that technology, such as internet or cellphones, enables women to exercise wider range of rights, including active political participation and sexual rights.

Read about what happened in New York, and engage in Feminist Talks on women's communication rights and what the UN Women, a new UN agency recently launched in New York, ought to look at in terms of employing media in the advancement of women's rights. To get the latest recommendations on technology from the experience of women and girls on the ground check out our 'Special CSW edition: Can technology transform women's reality?' (http://bit.ly/i6TQ0c). We also invite you to take a stand and sign the pledge - I don't forward violence! a new campaign launched by the APC to stop the spread of violence by committing not to forward abusive messages.

GenderIT.org CSW2011 Team: Dafne Plough, Flavia Fascendini, Jac sm Kee, Jan Moolman, Katerina Fialova and Sonia Randhawa
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I. FEMINIST TALKS

*Take Back the Tech at the 55th Commission on the Status of Women*
Jac sm Kee reports back from the funkiest session at the 55th meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women - the 'Take Back the Tech!: Reclaiming Technology for Women's Rights' panel debate.
www.genderit.org/feminist-talk/take-back-tech-55th-commission-status-women

*Missing conversations*
When Jan Moolman first heard that the theme of this year's CSW was going to focus on science and technology she was really excited. In this blog post from New York, she shares her reflection why the framing of science and technology as a women's rights issue at this year's CSW did not really resonate with her in the end.
www.genderit.org/feminist-talk/missing-conversations

*VAW in myriad forms: Combatting financial abuse and privacy violations*
Reporting from the 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, Jac sm Kee discovers some interesting initiatives that help young people combat intimate partner abuse, that look at physical abuse, financial abuse and violations of privacy, among others. She also reports back on discussions about the effectiveness of the CSW and CEDAW in furthering the movement for gender equality.
www.genderit.org/feminist-talk/vaw-myriad-forms-combatting-financial-abu...

*On UN women, theme framing, buzz words and rockstars...*
Jac sm Kee reports on her second day at the 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. She posts about the connectivity irony, her doubts about the framing of this year's theme, the opening session, Michelle Bachelet's - UN Women Executive Director - introductory speech, women's empowerment principles developed in consultation with the private sector and Abigail Disney's documentary series on women's role in war and peacebuilding.
www.genderit.org/feminist-talk/un-women-theme-framing-buzz-words-and-roc...

*Informal check in from 'the land of the free'*
Jac sm Kee arrives to a cold and expensive New York for the 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. She reports on her first impressions.
www.genderit.org/feminist-talk/informal-check-land-free

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II. FEATURED ARTICLES AND RESOURCES

These three video presentations were part of the "Take Back The Tech! Reclaiming technology for women's rights" session organized at the 55th Commission on the Status of Women, on 25 February 2011, in New York. On this panel, organised by the APC women's programme, speakers shared experiences, challenges and successes of projects that are making a positive difference in women' lives:

*Transforming landscape of women's communication rights*
(video, 18mins)
Jac sm Kee talks about the Take Back The Tech! campaign, as well as introduces the Erotics - Exploratory Research on Sexuality and the Internet - project. Jac presents examples from Brazil, Lebanon, India and South Africa illustrating how the queer movement is using the internet for mobilising and for the exercise of sexual rights. She also explains how the Take Back The Tech! campaign connects violence against women and ICTs, and engages users to take control of technology to end violence against women.
www.genderit.org/resources/transforming-landscape-womens-communication-r...

*Power of communication - addressing violence in post-conflict situation*
(video, 16mins)
Harriet Musoke presents the work of Isis-Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE) and their approach to technology in addressing violence in post-conflict situation. Isis-WICCE is one of more than sixty groups funded by 'Take Back the Tech! small grants' fund, and using information technologies in their work to end violence against women.
www.genderit.org/resources/power-communication-addressing-violence-post-...

*Feminist Tech Exchange - using technology in activism on women's rights*
(video, 15mins)
Dafne Plou presents on how dozens of Feminist Technology Exchanges - a series of capacity building workshops - are building the skills of women's rights organisations to use information and communication technologies in campaigning, monitoring and documentation to end violence against women.
www.genderit.org/resources/feminist-tech-exchange-using-technology-activ...

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III.I DON'T FORWARD VIOLENCE! Take a stand and join the campaign

How many times have you received a forwarded message that contains photographs or a video of someone being violated or humiliated? What do you do with it? Do you pass it on? Or do you stop its spread? Do you forward? Or do you delete?

Boyfriends and girlfriends rarely make commitments and plans to delete private photographs of each other when they take the photos. What happens when the relationship breaks down and one of them decides to post them online? In each act of viewing and forwarding, they are continuing and replicating the violence. The APC women's programme is launching a new campaign to stop the spread of violence by committing not to forward abusive messages. We invite you to take a stand and sign the pledge.
www.takebackthetech.net/pledge/i-dont-forward-violence

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IV. EDITORS PICKS FROM #CSW CONVERSATIONS ON TWITTER

Editor picks from conversations on women & technology @ #CSW 55, Day 4&5 - Feb 25/26
www.genderit.org/feminist-talk/editor-picks-conversations-women-technolo...

Editor picks from conversations on women & technology @ #CSW 55, Day 1 - Feb 22
www.genderit.org/feminist-talk/editor-picks-conversations-women-technolo...

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*2011 APC Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP). Except where
otherwise noted, content in this newsletter is published by GenderIT.org, a
project of the APC WNSP, and licensed under a Creative Commons
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