In depth
Women at the IGF: Now we need to mainstream gender
By Sonia Randhawa
This year's Internet Governance Forum came to a close in Baku, Azerbaijan on 16 November. GenderIT.org contributor Sonia Randhawa spoke to three women about their experiences at the IGF, and whether any progress is being made in terms of the representation of women, and the prominence of women's rights and gender as cross-cutting issues for internet goverance. Jac sm Kee is from Malaysia and…
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Women human rights defenders and digital security: Reflections with a Latin American accent
By Daysi Flores
A survey of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) conducted as part of APC’s Connect Your Rights! campaign revealed some interesting practices and perceptions in terms of their use of information and communications technologies in their work. Daysi Flores, a GenderIT.org contributor, analyses the preliminary results of the survey, in light of the realities of Latin America.
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Who benefits from the silence? Freedom of expression and women human rights defenders in Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala
By Daysi Flores
In this article, Daysi Flores, a JASS Mesoamérica representative and GenderIT.org contributor, looks at a number of new cybercrime laws in Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala that pose a threat to online security, the right to privacy, and freedom of expression and association for the countries’ citizens in general, but for women human rights defenders in particular.
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Surveying Women Human Rights Defenders: Harassment is the biggest online problem
By Sonia Randhawa
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC)'s “Connect your rights: Internet rights are human rights” campaign has commissioned one of the first international surveys of the online threats faced by women human rights defenders (WHRDs). Responses came from 13 English-speaking countries, and across Spanish-speaking Latin America, with just over 40 people responding. The survey thus…
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Egypt: Cyber-security as a priority and an integral part of human rights advocacy
By Mavic Cabrera-Balleza
GenderIT.org correspondent Mavic Cabrera-Balleza interviews Yara Sallam, Manager of the Women Human Rights Defenders Program at Nazra for Feminist Studies in Egypt, on the challenging reality for women human rights defenders, how they are affected by measures taken by the government in the name of “national security”, and strategies used to address threats to WHRD's cybersecurity.
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Collateral damage of the cyberwar in Syria
By Jennifer Radloff
Jennifer Radloff and Grady Johnson speak to a Syrian activist in exile about the government increasing tendency to securitize the internet and crack down freedom of expression and freedom to privacy on-line. They also talk how limited access to ICTs, self-censorship due to widespread surveillance and reliance on commercial social networks in combination with a general lack of technical knowledge…
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Building the Capacity of WHRD: the experience of Front Line Defenders
By Margarita Salas
In a context where the debate around digital security tends to be focused on national security and counter-terrorism measures, civil society faces the important challenge of claiming a space for women human rights defenders (WHRD). Margarita Salas of Genderit.org spoke with Wojtek Bogusz and Tara Madden of Front Line Defenders to discuss some of the key challenges they have identified in their…
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Azerbaijan: When online security is synonymous with personal safety
By Zooey Schock
The Seventh Internet Governance Forum will be taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 6 to 9 November 2012. GenderIT.org writer Zooey Schock spoke with veteran activist Dr Leyla Yunus about internet freedom and the ability to organise in post-Soviet Asia.
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Philippines: the problematic cybercrime prevention law of 2012
By Kateřina Fialová
The recent passage of the Philippine Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (or the Republic Act 10175) has elicited strong negative reactions from various stakeholders. Civil society organizations (CSOs), academe, journalists, bloggers, and Filipino netizens have expressed great concern over certain provisions of the law that impinged their constitutional right to freedom of expression. To date,…
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Digital Storytelling as a Feminist Practice
By Sigrid Kannengießer
Digital storytelling provides a powerful way of using information and communication technologies to empower marginalised women. Digital stories are produced and distributed by digital media. In digital storytelling workshops, marginalized women and women’s rights activists develop a forum to tell their stories and share their experiences by producing short films about themselves.
