Latin America
In depth
Gender and ICT policies: it's time to reorder our forces and understand what is happening
Magaly Pazello is the only Brazilian feminist who’s been active in the WSIS process since its inception. A member of the WSIS Gender Caucus, she is also member of the DAWN network - Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era. In the Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Preparatory Conference, held in June 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, Graciela Selaimen interviewed Magaly Pazello, speaking...
In depth
WSIS Rio regional meeting: very few doors open for the gender perspective
No participation of civil society as observers in the governmental delegations' meetings; no gender working group in the final regional action plan ELac 2007; almost no women, black people or indigenous people as panelists. Although the Rio WSIS Regional Meeting opened two slots for civil society statements in the plenary and produced documents which were fairly positively received by NGOs and...
In depth
Opening Eyes in Jamaica
Hilary Nicholson, member of Women’s Media Watch, shares her experience and impressions on participating in the Global Media Monitoring Day in Jamaica. Her article shows the expectancies and reactions of twelve women who volunteered to participate in this initiative, last February. To some of them, enlightening, to others, unsettling - to all of them an eye-opener experience, after which the...
In depth
The Latin American and Caribbean Regional Ministerial Preparatory Conference for the World Summit on the Information Society, from the point of view of the NGOs
The Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Conference (one of the Preparatory Conferences for the World Summit on the Information Society) was held in Bávaro, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, from the 29th to the 31st of January, 2003. In this article, Magaly Pazello, a member of the DAWN network, makes a report of the event and points out the small participation of women's groups and feminist...
In depth
Latin american women take on the internet
"Information technology obviously will not solve the world's problems. But wisely deployed and developed, it has proven to be a powerful tool for advancing social causes. One of the social groups that has been most dynamic in using this technology innovatively for social progress, is the women's movement; and in many aspects, the South has exerted leadership in this process."
Publication
Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia: Cross-country Study on Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
María Isabel and María Alejandra Davidziuk compare the findings of four national reports from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia undertaken as part of the APC WNSP project “Strengthening women’s strategic use of ICTs to combat violence against women and girls”. In their analysis they look at some barriers (both institutional and cultural) that need to be overcome in order for ICTs to be...
Publication
Argentina: Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
Cristina Peralta examines the situation in Argentina, where few cases of VAW using ICTs have been denounced. One study found that a small percentage of young girls had been contacted by unknown people via chat or Facebook before disappearing. Cell phones are also used for controlling women's mobility and have become one of the first artifacts to be destroyed by the partner during violent...
Publication
Brazil: Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
In this paper, Ingrid Leao, Thais Lapa and Tamara Amoroso discuss violence against women in the media, with advertisement and TV show examples. It also looks at civil society expectations for the first National Conference on Communications, to be held in December 2009. It examines the use of social networks like Orkut and Twitter; denouncements of VAW practices, such as cyber-bullying of teenage...
Publication
Colombia: Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
Lucy Niño and Lida Nuñez look at how the Colombian government has paid special attention to ICT policies, offering ICT literacy programmes and ICT inclusion in marginalised areas, while at the same time ICTs are used to promote prostitution and pornography produced in the country via the internet and cellphones. Government has produced a campaign to foster a “healthy use” of internet and to...
Publication
Cinderella or Cyberella? Empowering Women in the Knowledge Society
Edited by Sophia Huyer and Nancy Hafkin, this book collects essays by Sonia N. Jorge, Shafika Isaacs, Shoba Arun, Richard Heeks, Sharon Morgan, Maria Garrido, Raul Roman, and Vikas Nath on the current landscape of gender and ICT. According to Claudia Morell, the book "provides an excellent overview of the critical issues addressing the global participation of girls and women in today's...
