Feminist talk

It's violent, it's misogynist. Something needs to be done, but what?

Posted Mon 16 Jul 2012 - 06:20 | 13,579 views
For those of you that don't know the appalling vitriol that Anita Sarkeesian has been subject to, you can read a summary of it here. It's worrying that there are people out there who are capable of perpetrating this campaign of hatred. But what's more worrying is that we don't seem to know what to do…

Feminist talk

Copyright and the digital divide

Posted Thu 5 Jul 2012 - 06:17 | 6,263 views
It's day two of the 'Informal' Asia Europe Foundation meeting on human rights and ICTs, and we're split up into workshops to discuss recommendations that will go to the Foundation's ministerial meeting in November: I'm in the workshop on digital divide. While a lot of interesting ideas came up during the course of the day, the one which causes me most concern is the problem of knowledge that is…

In depth

Going online is the same as going out to a rally

Posted Wed 13 Jun 2012 - 18:38 | 50,731 views
In early April 2012 in Istanbul thirty people from six continents met at the APC “Dialogue on digital security and women's human rights defenders” to discuss regional and global trends on digital security, freedom of expression and freedom of association, and their impact on women's human rights defenders. Katerina Fialova and Sonia Randhawa interviewed two of the participants to interrogate/…

Feminist talk

Equality, non-interference, non-hierarchy: What the net should be

Posted Thu 24 May 2012 - 06:32 | 5,271 views
The UN Special Rapporteur on cultural rights Farida Shaheed made an important speech on internet governance in Geneva earlier in May 2012. She stressed the importance of upholding human rights principles online supporting the call of civil society for democratization of internet governance. Sonia Randhawa is urging all of us to not just look at what Farida Shaheed says, but also to take a look…

Feminist talk

May 17 | World Internet Day & IDAHO | What does internet freedom mean to you?

Posted Thu 17 May 2012 - 00:27 | 4,995 views
May 17 marks two important causes: The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO)and World Internet Day. Join us and play Twitter tag to connect your rights on May 17th. Help activists in your communities - geographically or issue-based - to connect with other activists who might know about IDAHO or internet rights but might not see them as interconnected or even know each…

In depth

Who governs the internet

Posted Tue 15 May 2012 - 10:33 | 11,857 views
Who governs the internet? How are decisions made about this key infrastructure and system that seems to support such an overwhelming part of our everyday lives? And what are feminists and women's rights activists doing about it? Jac sm Kee scans through the history of the internet to leave us thinking about who governs that space that can have such an influencing impact on so many areas of our…

Feminist talk

Bargain basement shopping in the information society

Posted Tue 15 May 2012 - 06:19 | 11,359 views
When I saw this quote on Mozilla's new Collusion website: "If you're not paying for something, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold - Andrew Lewis." I felt it summed up the economics tool box session on Commodification of Knowledge that APC led at the 2012 AWID Forum quite nicely. The session, organised by APC, brought together speakers to spark debate and reflection, but the…

Feminist talk

Taking street harassment off the streets and off the map!

Posted Mon 14 May 2012 - 12:10 | 11,024 views
I walked in late to the jam-packed session “Bringing Gender to the Streets: Young Women Amidst the Arab Uprisings” at AWID Forum 2012. This was not a session about technology or the internet, but it was a common strand running through each presenters' activism and evidence-building for women's rights, even and perhaps especially in the midst of revolution.

Feminist talk

Privacy and voice

Posted Fri 11 May 2012 - 08:03 | 8,471 views
I'm sure we've all seen amazing testimony videos of incredibly sensitive subjects: of women who choose to have abortion and share why despite risking imprisonment in their country for this act of taking control of their bodies; lesbians who come out fighting against "correctional rape"; rural women living in isolated regions sharing stories of cultural violence. I cringe and wonder - do they know…

Feminist talk

Have you ever spied on your ex on Facebook?

Posted Thu 10 May 2012 - 08:34 | 7,169 views
The question in the headline elicits a complicit smile. Have you ever? Or have you spied on their new partner? Or have you googled someone you just met and liked a lot? At the interactive session on “Privacy and pleasure” that was held as part of the 2012 AWID Forum there were a variety of participants, of diverse ages, that raised their hands, recognizing that both Facebook and Google are tools…